How (Not) To Reunite With Your Long-Lost Twin
by ThatRandomPerson04
Summary: "And you, Owen?" Karen beamed across the table at her sister's boyfriend. "Do you have a sister or brother?" Owen hung his head sadly. "I had a twin brother." "Had?" Zach repeated, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What was his name?" "His name..." Owen started, eyes never leaving his plate in front of him,' "...Was Peter."
1. Chapter 1: Among the Stars

**Hi everyone! This idea has been in my head for a while, but I haven't seen anything like this online, so I thought I would have a go at writing it. Also, please bear in mind that is my first ever fanfiction, so I apologise if anyone is out of character or something doesn't make sense. If it does, let me know! :)**

 **Constructive criticism is welcome, but no rude comments, please!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Jurassic World or Marvel franchise (but I wish I did! :) )**

 **This story takes place a couple of years after the Jurassic World incident but before Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, so any characters from that will not be appearing (at least for now).**

 **And without further ado, let's get on with the story!**

 ** _Chapter 1: Among the Stars_**

 _The room was dark and lonely, empty except for two young boys - identical twins- sitting quietly in the corner. One fiddled with his Sony Walkman that was given to him by his mother, the other sitting quietly, fiddling with a small dinosaur keychain that his brother had given him for their eighth birthday. An eerie atmosphere hung over the two brothers, neither of them willing to break the silence. The door creaked open._

 _"Boys, your mama wants to speak with you. Come on, Pete. Take these fool things off." The smaller of the boys, Peter, refused to respond, only glancing at his brother for some kind of comfort._

 _Their grandfather, seeing that he was getting nowhere, gently reached down and lifted the orange earphones from his head and Peter reluctantly paused his music, glancing at his brother, the only other person besides his mother with whom he felt truly safe._

 _His twin brother smiled weakly, reaching for his hand. Together, the two of them followed their Grandpa to where their mother lay in bed, tired and weak, but her eyes still shone nonetheless when she saw her boys walk into the room. The boys took no heed of anyone else watching silently, refusing to make eye contact with anyone._

 _"Owen," whispered Peter, still shy to look at the place where his mother's hair once was or how thin she had grown. "Is momma gonna be alright?"_

 _"I don't know, Pete." Owen replied, voice wavering and eyes watery. "I hope so..." Their grandfather beckoned them forward, and so the brothers bravely shuffled to the bedside._

 _Peter shifted uncomfortably as his mother's green eyes scanned over him, not missing the bruise on his eye where he'd gotten into a fight with the local bully and his gang down the road._

 _"Why have you been fighting with the other boys again, baby?" Peter flinched, sneaking at desperate glance at Owen for reassurance. Owen nudged him to encourage his twin to answer, though his eyes remained cloudy at his worry for the only parent that he had ever known._

 _Peter shrugged his shoulders, still refusing to meet Meredith's eyes._

 _"Peter?" She repeated, eyes searching his face for answers._

 _"They killed a little frog that ain't done nothin'. Smushed it with a stick. Owen told 'em to stop, but they turned on him, so I told 'em to leave him alone."_

 _There was a pause._

 _"You're so like your daddy, you even look like him. You both do. And he was an angel, composed of pure light..." Meredith closed her eyes for a moment, breaking off with a gasp as Owen shuffled closer to his twin, the two of them taking comfort in being close to each each other. Owen sniffed, running a sleeve along his nose._

 _"Mer? You got a present for your boys, don't you?" Grandpa said, breaking the silence of the somber hospital room._

 _"Of course," Meredith replied, pushing two small packages and cards across the bed, as much as her weak arms would let her. "There."_

 _The boys' Grandpa placed the gifts in each of the boys' rucksacks. Neither twin moved and stared with wide, tear filled eyes at the scene before them._

 _"I've got you boys covered." Grandpa said, attempting to smile at his grandsons, but it came out strained and did nothing to lift the tension that hung upon the air like smoke in a fire._

 _"You boys open them up when I'm gone, okay?" Meredith instructed, watching as the green eyes of her sons stared welling up with hot tears. Peter actually stumbled slightly, leaning on Owen for much needed support._

 _"Your grandpa is gonna take such good care of you both. At least until your daddy comes back to get you..." Their mother continued, fighting the overwhelming urge to just sleep._

 _She wasn't ready yet..._

 _"Take my hand." Meredith opened her hand towards her boys, her only light she had after their father left. Her vision began to turn blurry, but she could see enough to make out Peter with his head on Owen's soldiers, afraid to look. "Please."_

 _"Come on, boys..." Grandpa murmured, gently pushing the boys towards their mother, both of whom were still clutching at each other like a lifeline. Peter kept his head on his twin's shoulder, while Owen's grip on Peter's jacket sleeve was enough to turn his knuckles white._

 _"Take my hand." Meredith repeated, staring earnestly at her boys. She hadn't got long, she knew it, but she had to say goodbye before she left. One last time._

 _Owen released his grip on Peter as his reached for his mother's hand..._

 _BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..._

 _... But it was too late._

 _Peter was the first to respond. "Mom?_ No! _" He shrieked, elbowing his way past the others in the room to once again reach his mother's bedside. Owen quickly followed suit, praying that his momma was still there. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he saw Meredith lying there, eyes closed as if in sleep._

 _Peter continued to yell, screaming and yelling and kicking anyone who came near enough. Grandpa scooped Peter up in one arm, carrying him down the the hall and into the room where the boys had first been waiting, mumbling a quick 'come with me'._

 _Owen elbowed his way through the room, anxious to get out of the place where his mother had just died. He never wanted to return._

 _He heard Grandpa talking to Peter, begging him to stay where he was, and Peter's continued refusals. Owen raced down to meet his brother, tears still falling but he refused to wipe them away, seemingly the only thing left to show of his mother's death._

 _He heard the footsteps of his grandpa approaching him, heavy but fast, needing to get back into the hospital room where his mother lay. Grandpa stopped when he saw Owen, kneeling down to his height._

 _He heard Grandpa asking him to keep an eye on Peter while he checked on the others, although he didn't register it._

 _He heard the sound of the large front door opening and the small footsteps of his brother racing outside._

 _"Peter!" He yelled, racing as fast as his legs would carry him, but the grief and worry for the hospital slowed him down a little. He could still hear sobbing, getting fainter and fainter each minute, and Owen knew he couldn't catch him. While his grief slowed him down, Peter's allowed him to run faster, away from the hospital._

 _Owen came to a stop, gasping for breath. His brother had reached the tree line by now, and he knew he would not catch Peter if he didn't want to be found. Owen decided to walk at a brisk pace, allowing his brother time to grieve but still getting there in enough time before Grandpa noticed their absence._

 _A bright light suddenly turned on in the distance. A car headlight, maybe? Owen barely had the time to wonder what a car was doing there in the middle of the night before he heard Peter's screaming._

 _He was sure his heart stopped. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and in an instant, the grief, pain and worry vanished, replaced with an impossible amount of fear. It was this fear that gave his feet wings, sprinting down to here the sound of the screaming was._

 _"Owen!"_

 _The light was fading. No! The car was driving off! Owen redoubled his efforts, pushing himself forwards, forcing his legs to move. He wouldn't lose both his mother and brother on the same day, he just_ couldn't

 _His arms pumped at his sides, his lungs were burning, but he refused to give up. He could see the clearing, just ahead, but the light was nearly gone._

 _Owen yelled._

" _Peter_!"

Owen Grady shot up in bed, bolt upright. Sweat plastered his hair to his neck and his bedsheets were corkscrewed around his legs, a sure sign that he had been tossing and turning all night. His heart fluttered in his chest, eyes darting around the room.

 _It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. That's all it was._

Owen buried his face into his hands, unashamedly crying over his brother, missing for just over 26 years. He was beginning to lose hope.

Eventually, when all his tears had dried and no more would come, Owen rolled out of bed after carefully untangling his legs and pushed open Karen's thick green curtains, allowing the night air to flow in and gently caress his face. Satisfied, Owen climbed back into bed, turning his head to see outside.

It was a clear night, the stars all visible and seemingly endless.

 _I know you're out there somewhere, Pete,_ he thought to himself, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. _Come back,_ please _. I need you._

 **(JW JW JW JW JW)**

 **That's it for the first chapter! Thank you so much for reading!**

 **I did change some details such as putting in a forest near the hospital when Peter ran away on order to disguise the fact that he was kidnapped by Yondu - obviously Owen's first reaction when seeing light wouldn't be to think an alien kidnapped his twin, so I think the car explanation makes a reasonable amount of sense.**

 **If it wasn't already obvious, from this point on the story will diverge from canon - there will be no infinity war (thank goodness) and I'm still debating whether to add Fallen Kingdom into later chapters.**

 **At the moment, I have a basic plot planned out, but feel free to give me ideas! I'm still not entirely sure where I'm going with this, so your help would be greatly appreciated! :)**

 **Ok, I think that's it for the long author's note, see you next time!**

 **Oh, and don't forget to review! :)**

 **\- ThatRandomPerson04**


	2. Chapter 2: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

**Hey everyone! I'm back again with the second chapter! Sorry about the delay, I had intended to post the next chapter yesterday but I was just too busy :(**

 **Thank you guys for the favs, follows and comments (special thanks to _SoulessRobot_ for being my first ever review!), they've honestly made me so happy!**

 **I'm not completely set on the chapter title, though. If anyone has any better ideas, let me know! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still don't own either JW or GOTG :( (do I have to this for every chapter?)**

 **Also, Groot is still a baby in this fic because plot.**

 **Ok, here's the next chapter!**

 ** _Chapter 2: Two Sides Of The Same Coin_**

"Mornin'. " Owen grumbled as he stumbled into the dining room. He was met with a course of greetings as he shuffled into the dining room at Karen's, Claire's sister's, house.

Glancing at the breakfast table, Owen's eyes were immediately drawn to Claire sitting in the middle, eyes still drooping slightly from sleep and crimson red hair slightly messy. She met his gaze with a fond smile and pulled out the chair next to her for him to sit down.

Smiling slightly, he made his way over towards where she sat, giving a half-hearted wave to Karen, who was standing at the small kitchenette in the corner and finishing up preparing the breakfast for her guests, her shoulder length blonde hair tied up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face whilst cooking.

(Owen had no doubt in his mind that Claire had already offered to assist in making breakfast. If she was sitting at the table, it meant that Karen had stubbornly refused. Sometimes the two sisters were more like each other than either cared to admit.)

Neither of Claire's nephews were sitting at the table. To be honest, Owen wasn't surprised at all. He remembered being constantly glued to his bed when he was their age, too.

Finally having reached the chair, he slumped in it, brushing a few stray chocolate-brown locks from his forehead and groaning slightly, voice still slightly crackly from sleep.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked, taking in his disheveled appearance and the dark black rings under his eyes.

"Yeah. Nightmare." He whispered, grabbing a plate from the middle of the table and placing it in front of him. "Nothing major."

She reached over and took his hand in hers, moving her thumb in circles in a soothing motion. Owen smiled appreciatively, taking a moment to enjoy the small tingles that travelled up his arm whenever the two made contact.

"Was it about... You know..." She trailed off.

Owen thought for a moment. It would be a lot easier to admit that the cause of his sleepless night was due to the recent traumatic experience that they and their nephews had been through. But still, he didn't want to lie to her...

As if sensing that he didn't want to talk about it, Claire turned in her seat and called out towards the bedrooms.

"Boys! Are you up yet?"

A grunt could be heard from behind one of the doors.

Owen chuckled to himself. Looked like Claire's call had only just woken Zach up. Actually, thinking about it, in some ways Zach was a bit like Peter. Absorbed in his own world half the time, Peter with his Walkman and Zach with his phone. The two both had a huge appreciation for music.

Gray reminded Owen of Peter too, with his willingness to learn more and desire to help others. The difference was that Gray was a great deal more vulnerable than Peter had ever been, with his obsession with dinosaurs and childish innocence that he had managed to maintain even after the whole Jurassic World incident.

"-wen!" Owen snapped out of his thoughts to see Karen standing above him, holding a tray with a variety of breakfast foods in it. Her facial expression was somewhere between concerned and slightly annoyed. (Yup, she and Claire were definitely related.)

"O-oh, sorry," he mumbled, gladly accepting his share of breakfast.

Just then, Gray came bounding into the room, curly blonde hair sticking in all directions but blue eyes brighter than they had been for many months. It appeared that he was beginning to move on from the serious trauma that he had gone through just under a year ago.

"Morning Aunt Claire, Uncle Owen." He said, shuffling back in his seat. Owen allowed himself a small smile, sharing a glance with Claire. Only a couple of months ago had the young 12-year-old gotten into the habit of addressing him as 'uncle'. Owen found that he quite enjoyed it.

Moments later, Zach shuffled into the room, head down. At first, Owen worried that he had had a nightmare during the night, but a closer look at his features showed that he simply had a case of the 'morning teens'.

Owen and Claire had been staying at Karen's new house for a couple of days at Claire's suggestion that everyone meet up to catch up now that everyone had (mostly) recovered from the Jurassic World incident.

Now that everyone was there, they began to eat. The room was filled with meaningless chatter and the scraping sound of cutlery on plates, which, to Owen at least, didn't seem worth listening to. Zoning out, he found his mind wandering back to his nightmare.

It had been a while since he'd had that one recurring dream due to frequent nightmares about the Indominus Rex from his time hiding under the van. It had taken months for him to even lie down again without having painful flashbacks.

Still, now that he was in the road to recovery, he could turn his mind to other things such as the search for his twin. Never, in all of the years that his twin had been missing, had Owen given up on the search, although his grandparents (though they denied it) had clearly given up long ago.

But he knew that one day, as long as he remained persistent, he would find Peter again.

After all, they were brothers.

Owen tuned into the conversation when he heard his name mentioned again.

"Owen and I are thinking of moving into the countryside," Claire was saying. "We're going to get a car an and go travelling, and maybe after that build a house somewhere." She smiled at him. "It'll be nice bonding time."

Owen smiled at his girlfriend, nodding to affirm her words.

"Ooh-" Gray started, bouncing up and down in his seat, blonde curls bouncing on top of his head. "Zach and I are going to go camping at some point during summer." He looked towards Karen, eyes shining. "You called it Brotherly Bonding Time.".

From the corner of his eyes, Owen could see Zack roll his eyes affectionately, looking at his younger brother. "Siblings are weird."

Gray, very maturely, stuck his tongue out at Zack.

"Speaking of siblings, is Scott's sister still giving you a hard time over the divorce?" Claire said, looking concernedly at Karen. "You told me she was being very persistent."

Karen laughed, but Owen could see the slight sadness behind the positive exterior. God knows he'd done that whenever anyone asked about Peter.

"Yes, well. Like brother, like sister, I suppose." She replied, catching Owen's eye from across the table. "What about you, Owen?" Karen beamed across the table at her sister's boyfriend. "Do you have a sister or brother?"

Owen hung his head sadly. "I had a twin brother."

"Had?" Zach repeated, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What was his name?"

"His name..." Owen started, eyes never leaving his plate in front of him,'

"...Was Peter."

(JW JW JW JW JW)

"Quill, look out!"

Peter Quill grimaced as he swerved his beloved spaceship, the Milano, to avoid yet another round of incoming gunfire from unknown ships.

"Jeez, Quill, are ya tryin' ta get us all killed or somethin'?" Rocket yelled, frantically trying to regain control of the ships as it tumbled sideways. His ears were swivelling on his head, fur all spiked up from adrenaline. Had it been any other time, Peter would most likely have laughed at the (quite frankly, ridiculous) image, but his attention was more focused on the enemy ships in front.

Still, Quill spared an angry glance toward the racoon for a moment before turning his attention back to the control board, jerking the ship to the side to avoid a particularly nasty attack. He wasted no time in thrusting the throttle away from him, and was thrown back in his seat as the Milano suddenly lurched forward.

"How far to the nearest jump point?" He yelled above the noise of the engine, never taking his eyes off of the colourful galaxy in front of him.

"Not far!" Gamora said, frowning at the pad in front of her, eyes occasionally flicking upwards to track the battle. "But, Peter, I don't think you'll like where this is going..."

"Why, where are we going?" Mantis chirped happily, looking completely out of harmony with the chaotic atmosphere of the earth, sitting with her legs folded in front of her, antennae sticking up.

"Terra." Drax boomed from near the back of the ship. Gamora turned to look at him from her chair, frowning at Drax's sudden burst of intelligence. He shrugged at the look she gave her, helping himself to Groot's bowl of sweets and ignoring the growl that the young treeling gave him.

"What?" He shrugged, munching on yet another handful of sweets (Groot muttered something under his breath that nobody was able to catch, but there was no doubt that it wasn't pleasant). "I can see it from behind your puny shoulder."

Peter shuddered in his chair after hearing the exchange. The thought of returning to Earth after his mother's death had occurred several times, but he had never returned out of fear.

What was it now like there? Had it changed much? Would he even recognise it at all? What about his grandparents? Were they even still alive? And most importantly of all... What had become of his brother? Would he even be happy to see him?

Quill grunted as he swung his ship around, wincing as the wing of the Milano caught the edge of another ship and releasing large quantities of black smoke. Whatever the case, it seemed that at least getting to Earth's solar system might be enough to shake off the heavy fire from the hoard of spaceships following them.

Swearing heavily, he targeted the jump point and flew through it, gripping the controls of his ship tightly so that none of the other team members could see his hands shake. Butterflies swum in the pits of his stomach.

"To Earth."

 **(GOTG GOTG GOTG)**

 **... Aaaand that's it for the second chapter! I'm sorry if the breakfast scene seemed a little boring, I just needed something to fill the time before the others found out about Owen's long-lost twin to stop them from leaping straight into it (because that's probably not very realistic. But then again, this is also a fic about dinosaur trainers and aliens...)**

 **The guardians are part of this mess now, too! Now the real plot can begin :)**

 **For those eagle-eyed viewers, I was trying to establish a theme of siblings during this chapter to exaggerate Owen's and Peter's distance. Did anyone notice? Was I successful? Please let me know :)**

 **Reviews:**

 ** _SoulessRobot_ : I'm really glad you liked it! Thank you for the positive feeedback and I'll try to keep the other chapters to a similar standard. I hope you liked this one, too! :)**

 ** _Mr E_ : *Captain America Voice* Patience... All will become clear soon :) I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far, and don't worry, I have plans for future chapters. I hope this one was to your liking!**

 **See you guys next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: One Step Closer

**Hey everyone! I'm back with the third chapter!**

 **Thank you guys for all of the positivity surrounding this story, it's what inspires me to keep writing.**

 **Disclaimer: *Sighs* still don't own GOTG or JW...**

 **Ok! A/N over!**

 ** _Chapter 3: One Step Closer_**

Owen took in a deep breath, fully aware of the four pairs of eyes staring at him. It hurt to think about his missing twin, especially in the company of two young brothers that had formed a bond together similar to his own.

"When we were small, Peter went missing. It... It was the day that my mother died of cancer." He buried his face in his hands, rubbing his palms over his eyelids. "I'm sorry."

Claire put a reassuring hand on his shoulders, moving it in soothing circles across his back. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," she said softly. Owen allowed himself a few seconds of comfort, before lifting his miserable face to the expectant faces of the others.

"Yeah. My mother died, and Peter... He took it especially hard, and being him... When the heart monitor stopped he ran outside, and he never came back." Owen shuddered slightly. "I remember seeing a bright light. I imagine that it must have been a car or something."

Gray frowned up at him. "If it was a car... Maybe there were tyre tracks somewhere?" Owen shook his head, marvelling at the kid's intelligence.

"It rained, not long after Peter's disappearance. If there were any tyre tracks, they would have been long washed away."

Ploughing on, Owen looked at the table to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. "I joined the navy for the opportunity to travel. My grandparents, the people who raised me, never had the spare money. I thought that I may be able to track him down..."

"And?" Claire gently prompted.

"And then I was recruited to the Jurassic World program. I changed my name to Grady, my grandmother's maiden name, so that I couldn't be connected to my grandparents. I knew it was a dangerous job, particularly when it was run by a company such as InGen."

He took a breath. "I thought that if I perhaps made a name for myself, Peter might recognise me and come home... But then everything happened, and... Well, I never stopped hoping."

The room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

Zach leaned across the table, ignoring his mother's small outcry.

"But he could still be out there, yeah? Surely there must be something-"

He cut himself off at the distraught look on Owen's face.

"Zach." Karen prompted quietly. Zach muttered an apology, leaning back in his chair, looking slightly disheartened.

Karen and Claire were both looking at him with identical expressions of somewhere between sadness and pity. _You can really tell that they're siblings_ , Owen thought for the second time, and felt an irrational spike of jealousy.

He wondered, for a brief moment, if that was what people had thought of him and his twin when they were children.

Owen stood up suddenly, finding it hard to stay in the same room as the two sets of happy siblings. "Thanks for breakfast. I'm sorry for... That..."

With that, he left the room, Claire following close to his heels. He felt a pleasant warmth in the pit of his stomach when she grasped his hands, gently threading his fingers through hers.

(JW JW JW JW JW)

Peter let out a stream of curses that would have made Rocket blush (if he were able) as his beloved ship sustained heavy damage from a stray shot, letting out an eat-piercing squeal that made him cringe.

Somehow, when they had gone through the jump point, one of the ships had managed to fire a shot that had unfortunately landed right under the main engine, blowing up one of the jets.

Naturally, the situation had descended from there.

Straining to get the ship back under the control, Peter was helpless to do anything but watch as he and the rest of the Guardians were spiralled towards the atmosphere of his once-home plant.

"Strap in!" He cried, fastening the seatbelt in his chair, and felt a slight relief at hearing similar clicks of all of his teammates. This relief was short-lived, however, as the engines suddenly gave out, leaving the Guardians of the Galaxy to fall through the atmosphere of Terra.

Drax shouted something unintelligible from the sudden flames that ferociously attacked the side of the Milano. Mantis shrieked, already-wide eyes opening even further in horror.

Rocket was clutching Groot protectively to his chest, ears turning from side to side. His mouth was bared in an animalistic snarl. Groot, on the other hand, was clinging to rocket's leather jacket with a death-grip, head turned towards the windscreen, and small mouth hanging open.

Gamora in the seat next to him wore a determined expression that in any other situation would have made his heart race. She turned her head towards him, black and pink hair flying around her.

As if from a distance, Peter saw her mouth move, forming words. He thought at it may have been _'I love you'._

In that moment, she had never looked more beautiful.

And then there came the flames. For a few moments, Peter could see nothing but flashed of red, yellow and a fierce shade of orange.

Fear burned in the pits of his stomach.

His knuckles were white from clutching at the the now-useless controls.

His bones rattled every time the ship shook.

Suddenly, green eyes widened as the flames disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared, and an overwhelming bright green of the ground replaced it.

"Hold on!" Peter shouted, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew that they were empty. It was very unlikely that they would make it out alive.

Taking Gamora's hand in his, Peter closed his eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of fear and regret.

 _I'm sorry, guys._

 _I'm sorry, Gamora._

 _I'm sorry, Mom._

 _I-I'm sorry, Owen. Wherever you are._

Then there was the ear-grating sound of metal folding in on itself, the screams of someone -he had no idea who it was- and the boom as the Milano met the earth.

And then he felt nothing.

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Gray Mitchell had been through a lot.

He had been kicked around in a giant sphere in the midst of a fight between several stray dinosaurs, almost carried off by a giant herd of pterodactyls and had witnessed at fight between a Tyrannosaurus and Indomious Rex, the two most terrifying creatures ever to walk the earth.

 _Still_ , he mused as his aunt and uncle left the dining room, _I would likely be dead if it weren't for the efforts of Owen._

It had been Owen that had protected him from the attack, Owen that had ridden alongside their truck so that none of his raptors could get to him and his brother, and Owen that had shielded them when the I-Rex had slammed the T-Rex into the building that they were taking refuge in.

Since then, Gray had regarded him as a hero, always steady and calm. Brave.

Indestructible.

Seeing him break down at the breakfast table had been quite a humbling moment for him. Gray knew that because of his naïveté and young age, people often assumed that Gray knew little about the world around him.

But Gray was anything but stupid.

He knew that the disappearance of Owen's brother had made him into the man that he had been in the Jurassic World incident. He knew that the rage and guilt was what had forced him through the gruelling training of the Navy.

And he knew that, beneath all of the tough exterior, Owen was hurting. Badly.

And he wanted to do something to fix it.

 **(JW JW JW JW JW)**

 **Ta-Da!**

 **So the Guardians have made their landing on earth (albeit not very gracefully). Just so you guys know, the breakfast scene happens slightly before the Guardians crash down to Earth. The reason for this should become apparent soon! I'm sorry for any confusion.**

 **Now, onto the reviews!**

 ** _DearieGleek_ : Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it, hope this was as good as you wanted!**

 ** _Mr E_ : I I'll certainly do my best, I hope you enjoyed the next chapter :)**

 ** _Ian N_ : Thanks for the suggestions! I don't know if I'll be able to incorporate all of the ideas into the story - I can try, but I may leave it out if it seems too forced (but I absolutely _love_ the idea of Barry being a Wakandan!). I may do a one-shot based on these ideas another time if it doesn't work, though. **

**_Warhawk Talon_ : I will certainly keep this in mind, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! **

**That's all for now!**


	4. Chapter 4: Choices

**Hey everyone! I'm back with the next chapter! I'm sorry for the delay. This is the point where the plot really begins to progress, so I h** **ope you all like it!**

 **Also, this is the last chapter that has been pre-written (except for a fair bit of editing), so I can't promise that future updates will be quite as regular (but I will do my best).**

 **TW: There is a fair bit of adult language in this chapter because part of it is written in Zach's point of view and I honestly can't see him not swearing (internally, at least).**

 **Disclaimer: I wish I owned JW and GOTG but I don't.**

 **Onto the next chapter!**

 ** _Chapter 4: Choices_ **

"C'mon, Zach!" Gray called, racing further into the woods.

Zach groaned, trudging behind his younger brother. "Wait up, Gray. The woods aren't exactly going to move. Besides, it's getting cold."

Gray ignored him. Of course he did.

Shoving down another round of complaints, Zach hitched his rucksack further up his shoulder, pulling the sleeves of his hoodie down to cover his hands. He shivered at the sudden cool breeze that swept through the trees, though Gray bounded ahead, unperturbed.

"The opening's not far now!" Gray called, blue eyes shining with the prospect of adventure as he grabbed his brothers wrist and proceeded to drag him.

Zach allowed his head to loll back ungracefully to gaze up at the dull grey sky, and heard the sound of snapping twigs beneath his feet. This was not his idea of fun. They had been walking for hours and he just wanted to sit down and take a nap...

The two brothers had been banished to the nearest woods on a day trip for some 'Brotherly Bonding Time', as his mother had so elegantly put it. Gray had dived into the opportunity headfirst and insisted that they went exploring whilst they were there, but Zack knew what it was really for.

He wasn't stupid.

If Gray had taken the time to consider why they had been sent out whilst their Aunt Claire and Uncle Owen were still staying at their house, he would instantly recognise that the adults didn't want them there.

(As much as he loved his brother, Zach still hated being lumped as a kid. He was eighteen in a few weeks, f _or fuck's sake!_ )

They were clearly discussing something about Jurassic World. Probably some boring-ass legal matters. He still didn't understand why they couldn't be there, though.

Zach was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when he barrelled into Gray, who had stopped in his tracks, and the two tumbled to the forest floor. Zach hissed as one of the branches scratched at his leg.

" _What the hell_ , Gray?" He ground out, shifting his position so he was no longer sprawled on top of him.

Gray didn't reply at first, wide eyes staring at something in the sky. He lifted a small hand and pointed at something above him. "Look."

Following his gaze, Zach saw what his brother was referring to and felt his heart freeze for a moment.

Holy _shit_.

Above them, tearing through the atmosphere in a ball of reds, yellows and oranges was some kind of object, constantly spinning and twisting.

And it was falling right toward them.

For a moment, Zach could do nothing but stare at the object as it moved, twisting and turning and spinning as it came ever closer to them, the flames around it digging relentlessly into its sides.

Then survival instincts kicked in and Zach's whole being was filled with the urge to _get out of there now!_

He looped his arms under Gray's and dragged him to his feet, before switching his grip to one of his brother's hands and sprinting as fast as he could in the direction in which they had just come.

Somewhere in the back of Zach's mind, he was aware that he was probably hurting Gray and that he most likely couldn't keep up , but it was overwritten by the overwhelming urge to _move, move, move!_ as the two ran further into the woods.

In fact, it almost reminded Zach of the last time that the two were in a similar situation, running in the woods and trying to escape a terrifying genetically engineered dinosaur- _not now_ , he reminded himself, pushing his legs to go faster.

Zach spared a glimpse behind him, the object had almost reached the ground _they weren't going to make it_ so Zach pushed Gray behind a tree for some kind of cover and stood in front, pulling his shaking younger brother to his chest for protection-

 ** _Boom_**.

The sound of the object colliding with the Earth echoed around the entire area, and Zach let out a grunt from his position over his brother as the shockwave rippled through the trees.

He waited there for a couple of moments, before deeming it safe enough to look around. He knew immediately where the thing had landed - more or less in the clearing they were just heading to, but it had flattened many trees on the way down and was now pouring out large quantities of smoke.

Zach frowned. _Meteors don't do that..._

Gray clung to Zach's hoodie, fingers clutching so deep into the material that the back part of Zach's mind cringed at the thought of him ripping through it.

"What was that?" He asked, and Zach fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"I don't know."

"Then we should check it out!"

" _Gray_!" Zach hissed, but the young boy had already squirmed out of his grip and was heading towards the crash site. Swearing underneath his breath so that Gray wouldn't hear, Zach pushed himself up and began to chase his brother.

He finally saw him standing shock-still, staring at the _thing_. Zach took the opportunity to pull him back a few paces before finally getting a good look at the mysterious falling object.

It was a mixture of bright orange and blue, now nearly covered in dirt, and had two large strips of either side of the main object (meteor?). Although they were severely crumpled, Zach could make out a huge metal structure on one of them, that if he compared to something on Earth, looked suspiciously like an engine.

Zach's brain short-circuited. They were staring at an alien spaceship.

 _Holy. Shit._

(JW JW JW JW JW)

"So, I guess that about wraps up the legal work," Karen declared as she sat back down at the table.

"Finally," Claire sighed, leaning into Owen's shoulders.

Owen, in turn, wrapped his arm around her, pressing a small kiss to her cheek and felt it heat up as she blushed. Owen grinned.

Gathering all of the paperwork off the table, he placed it carelessly into a file, and from the corner of his eye saw Claire winced at his untidiness. They would be sorting that out later, then.

"I wonder how the boys are doing on their day trip," Claire's sister said, lifting a delicate hand to her face and brushing aside any loose strands of hair.

"They'll be fine," replied her red-headed sister. "From what I heard, nothing interesting happens in those woods anyway."

(JW JW JW JW JW)

 _Purple._

 _Blinding purple as far the eye could see. A deep purple, whirling around, and blocking out any light, coursing through his veins._

 _In that moments, the overwhelming sense of purple was all that Peter Quill could feel, racing through his bones, twisting and churning through his veins in a stream of white-hot pain._

 _The Infinity Stone in his hands was almost too blinding._

 _"Take my hand, Peter."_

 _He could see his mother, lying in her bed, thin hand outstretched toward him. And next to her stood his brother, arm reaching towards him, begging him to come with them._

 _So Peter held up his slowly disintegrating hand and reached out._

 _But his hand met nothing._

 _Now he was kneeling in front of that thing that had called himself his father, a large white spear of energy jutting out painfully from his chest._

 _"Sorry, Peter." Ego said, taking a few strides towards him. "But I don't need you for my Expansion anymore. I've found a much better son."_

 _Opening his hands, Ego let out a burst of light, so bright that Peter had to close his eyes in order not to be blinded._

 _When he opened them, the first thing he saw was his own twin standing next to his biological father, the latter grinning maniacally._

 _"Let the Expansion begin!"_

Owen _, Peter tried to say,_ no, please no-

 _"You left me." Owen said dully, moving closer to the mad celestial. "You left me with nothing. No mother, no father, grandparents who were reluctant to take me in. I had nobody, no real family, and you let me live like that for almost_ thirty years

 _Owen's voice had raise to a roar now, and he too, a few steps closer that so that he was looking Peter right in the face. His voice was quiet now._

 _"You left me when I needed you the most. You're not my brother."_

 _With that, Owen turned his back and walked away, taking with him every last piece of hope that Peter had left._

Owen _, he tried to force out, but still made no sound, tears running down his face._ I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-

Peter jerked in his seat.

The first thing that he was aware of was the almost suffocating stench of smoke. The second thing was that he was upside-down. Breathing heavily to dispel the last edges of the nightmare -vision?- that still gripped at his insides, he managed to move his neck enough to look around.

The Milano had appeared to have landed roof-down, sparing any of the occupants of any serious injury. Still, it looked to Peter that he was the only one currently conscious.

The control panel was completely wrecked; sparks were flying from what remained of of the throttle, giving out little _skrt_ sounds as they did.

The entity of the windscreen had completely shattered; glass was lying scattered around the roof of the ship. _No chance of recovering that then_ , Peter thought dryly.

Reaching down, he unfastened his seatbelt, holding onto the chair to avoid falling straight down to the floor, and grunted as pain suddenly lanced through his shoulder. Looking down, it appeared to be at an odd angle. _Dislocated_ , he thought with a grimace.

First step: relocate his shoulder. Peter placed his other hand on his dislocated shoulder, taking many fast breaths. Suddenly, he moved his hand, taking his shoulder back into place. Fire coursed through his veins, and Peter had to bite on his lips to avoid letting out an agonised scream. He tasted blood.

He stumbled back a few steps, leaning on some scrap of ruined control panel, breathing heavily. He allowed himself time to relieve himself of some of the pain before moving on to his next step.

Step two: get his teammates out of the ruin of the Milano. And quickly, if the thick cloud of smoke was anything to go by. Activating his mask to keep out the worse of it, the self-proclaimed Star-Lord kicked out at the broken technology, making as much noise as humanly (alienly?) possible.

All of the guardians jolted up in shock at the sudden noise, and Peter sagged in relief that none of them had been killed or seriously injured. Still, injuries could wait until they were out of immediate danger.

Gamora was already unbuckling herself, although her movements lacked her usual elegance and grace. Once she had done so, she fell to the ground, and Peter quickly thrust his arm out to cushion her fall, grunting as her head collided with his injured shoulder.

Once he had established that she was alright, he moved further into the ship only to see Drax attempting to get Mantis out of her chair, who had fallen back unconscious after the commotion Peter had made.

She slumped in her seat, only being stop from plummeting to the ground by her seatbelt, which looked like it was about to give at any moment.

Internally groaning, Peter reached up with his good arm and unfastened it, watching as the girl fell into the awaiting arms of Drax, who immediately began to climb out of the ship via the gap left by the remains of the windscreen.

Rocket was also there, scrambling out alongside baby Groot.

Peter then began his own escape from the ship, grunting as he tumbled ungracefully onto the grass. From there, he did a headcount. Good. Everyone had gotten out.

Next step: hopefully get out of there before they were discovered by some Terran people and recuperate. They could figure out how to get off this goddamn planet from there.

"Peter," Gamora hissed, and something in her voice made his insides freeze. She gestured sloppily (and through that, demonstrated how much she needed medical help, as much as she tried to hide it - she was _always_ graceful) towards some trees.

Slowly turning towards where she was pointing, Peter felt his insides freeze again, but this was _much_ worse.

Two Terran boys (kids, somewhere in his mind supplied) were standing there, watching the Guardians with awe and slight terror. One was tall and lanky with dark hair, the other was small with light hair. The smaller one was clinging to the former like a lifeline, knuckles white.

 _What do I do now?_ he wondered. If he left them, they would only tell the others what they saw - aliens approaching from an alien spaceship. At first they would be doubted, that was certain, but soon the Milano would be discovered and their words given credit. They wouldn't be seen as mad.

But there was also the chance that they could give someone the Guardians' exact descriptions. Peter had a slight advantage that he still had his mask on and looked Terran (he _was_ half-Terran, after all), so he would probably be able to hide easily enough, but the others had pretty unique and distinctive looks.

If these boys went and told the people looking for them (there were bound to be people looking for them, there always was) and they knew what to look for, then the search time would be cut down significantly and they could be taken in before they had healed properly and possibly experimented on.

If that was the case, then what to do with them? Taking the two with them would means that they wouldn't get the chance to talk about them, and they could manage to show the boys that they weren't any threat, which could possibly help later.

But that could also go in the opposite direction. Someone would take note of the boys' disappearance, and the Guardians may be seems as kidnappers and therefore hostile, and they were in no position to fight back.

Besides, even if the boys somehow decided to argue that the Guardians came in peace and all that crap, who would listen to them? They were only kids, after all. But if they left them, they could be caught.

Peter took a step towards the Terran kids, and they edged back, looking wary.

What should he do? _What should he do?_

They were trapped.

( **GOTG GOTG GOTG)**

 **So a little bit of a cliffhanger :)**

 **That's the end of this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it! What do you think Peter will chose? Let me know in the reviews! Thanks for the favs and follows as well :)**

 **Constructive criticism is also appreciated, but no rude comments, please.**

 **Reviews:**

 ** _potatochip53_ : Thanks for reviewing! I'm really glad you like this story! **

**_Ian N_ : Thank you :)**

 ** _Matt_ : I will certainly keep that in mind. I'm still unsure if I am going to put Infinity War in, but I may include Fallen Kingdom at some point. **

**_Guest_ : I'm glad you like it! It will probably happen at some point but I have a bit more plot to finish before I get that far. **

**Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5: Humans and Aliens

**Hey everyone! I am so sorry this update took so long to come out. I just couldn't think of how to write down what I wanted, and I figure that you guys would rather have a late better-quality chapter than an earlier one that isn't as good. Hope that's alright!**

 **I also fixed a typo in the previous chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned either JW or GOTG, it would not be anywhere near as good as it is.**

 **And so the story continues...**

 ** _Chapter 5: Humans and Aliens_**

Gray clung to his older brother like a lifeline as they regarded the thing (alien?) warily. Heart thumping in his chest so hard it rang in his ears, he adjusted his grip on Zach's hoodie as it took a cautious step towards them.

Zach was quick to create more space, gently dragging Gray along with him as they retreated closer to the tree line in the hope that it would offer more protection, hearing the gentle rustle of the leaves behind them as the wind brushed through.

The thing in front of them raised its (surprisingly human-looking) hands in a placating gesture, as if to signal that it meant no harm, and stepped back, most likely as a peace offering. Gray felt some of the breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding rush out when it appeared that he and his brother were in no immediate danger.

The young boy tore his gaze of the creature to peek at his older brother, who hadn't broken eye contact with it, standing stubbornly in front of Gray as if to shield him. It didn't look like it was going to cause any harm, but then again, neither did the dinosaurs when they were safely in their enclosures.

Sensing that he wasn't currently in danger, Gray switched his focus back to the collection of creatures behind the one in front of them. There was a green woman, a muscular man with huge tattoos all over his body, another woman who looked vaguely human except for her bug-like eyes and antennae, and a raccoon(?) that was clutching something wooden to its chest.

They didn't look like they wanted to hurt the Mitchell brothers, but when Gray regarded the green woman again who matched his gaze with something akin to curiosity in her dark eyes, he saw the tension in her muscles hidden between a relaxed exterior.

 _She was used to violence_ , Gray realised with growing fear. It was the same thing that Owen had done when he was trying to appear calm but wasn't. He'd seen him do it frequently at Jurassic World.

Just then, Zach cleared his throat, bringing Gray back to reality. "Who are you?"

The alien in front of them tilted its head, red eyes glinting in the sunlight. Not that Gray could be sure, but it appeared to be debating with itself.

"Star-Lord," it answered eventually, as if it had a hidden meaning that it somehow expected them to know. Its shoulders appeared to sag slightly in what was probably disappointment upon seeing the brother's confused faces.

Just then, the muscled man with tattoos said something in harsh sounding alien language, leaning forward with his eyes flickering in the boys' direction. Gray felt Zach tense against him, ready for action.

 _What did he just say?_

Gray felt his stomach drop at the thought of it being some kind of threat - clearly, the aliens _must_ have felt threatened at being cornered with obvious injuries. Even if he and Zach didn't appear to be a threat, they were all still on edge, and Gray knew well enough that when people or animals felt cornered, they tended to attack.

Shuffling back a further couple of steps, Gray nudged Zach to get him to move, his older brother's gaze still locked on Star-Lord. The alien seemed equally as interested in the two brothers, giving off a wary aura that Gray knew not to get too close.

Just then, the red-eyed alien's hands brushed against the side of its red jacket _(it looked to be made of leather,_ _but that would be difficult to acquire in space_ , some back part of his find filled).

However, what caught his attention was the gun-shaped item that bulged out of the side of its belt, previously having been covered by the jacket.

Gray's heart rate spiked astronomically, the roar of blood in his ears and heart thumping in his throat . Whilst they hadn't yet made any sudden moves, these aliens were clearly dangerous, and Gray suddenly wanted to be as far away as possible from the smoking spaceship.

Zach, whose face had gone startlingly pale upon seeing the concealed weapon, leaned down and whispered "on the count of three, run as fast as you can and don't look back."

 _One_.

Gray shook where he stood as he prepared himself to bolt, blue eyes flicking from each of the aliens in front of him. What if they tried to follow?

 _Two_.

Zach looked to be in no better shape, subtly pushing his younger brother further behind him as of to give him a head start. Would Zach be able to keep up? What would he do if they got him?

 _Thr_ -

"W-wait!" Star-Lord's gutteral space accent cut through Gray's thoughts like a knife through butter. Gray froze from his position of getting ready to run, head swivelling back to see the alien who had spoken.

Star-Lord, to his surprise, had a hand stretched out as if to try and stop them from leaving. Slowly, as if trying not to startle a spooked rabbit, it (he? Physically, it looked male, at least) reached behind its ear and pressed something.

The alien's face then seemed to collapse in on itself, folding away back to where the alien had touched its ear, leaving a remarkably human-like face underneath.

Gray felt all of the air in his lungs be knocked out, leaving him winded.

He knew that face.

"O-Owen?!"

(JW JW JW JW JW)

 _"Sir?"_

 _"What is it, Hill?"_

 _"Something appears to have crashed in this area. It also appears to be from space."_

 _"Is it friendly?"_

 _"We don't know yet, sir."_

 _"Send some people out to its location to keep an eye on it. Keep it on the down-low. We don't want another repeat of the Manhattan attack."_

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

They were going to run, Peter realised as he saw the Terran boys in front of him tense up. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't let the boys go just yet. He and his team needed medical help, and those boys were the closest thing to aid that they had.

Thought spinning into overdrive as he desperately tried to come up with a plan to try and get the boys to stay without appearing hostile, Quill only barely noticed when Drax leaned forward to Mantis. " _Perhaps we should tell these puny earthlings that we are heroes like Kevin Bacon."_

Apparently, that was enough to spook the kids even more as, evidently not understanding it and presuming it was some kind of threat, they edged back further away. The older of the two leaned down and whispered something to the younger one, who gave a tiny nod, never looking away from the injured Guardians.

 _Damn it_. They _were_ going to run.

He needed them to stay.

What could he do?

Just as the boys' muscles went completely taut, Peter cried out. They stopped, looking back. So he had said it in the right language. _Good. That's a start._

Reaching behind his ear to the control of his mask, the self-proclaimed Star-Lord pressed the button to deactivate it, feeling the familiar sensation of small metal plates sliding back into their holding place.

 _They'll be less likely to run if I show them that we're similar, right?_

However, the younger of the Terran kids' reaction was nothing like what he was expecting.

"O-Owen?!"

It was like a soccer punch to the gut.

The wind rushed out of his lungs at the mention of his brother's name, leaving him staring incredulously at the boys, who also wore identical faces of shock.

How did they-?

How could they possibly-?

It wasn't possible. _No way_. He couldn't possibly have landed in front of two people that at least knew of the twin he hadn't seen since the day his mother died. They must have seen his picture somewhere.

 _But their tone spoke of familiarity, and they addressed him on a first name basis,_ the corner of his mind reasoned, _they must know him, and possibly quite well, too._

He wasn't even aware that he had begun to shake until he heard the dim shouting of his teammates asking if he was alright at the edge of his hearing.

Knowing his brother was possibly so close-

He felt faint.

 _Focus, Quill_. He scolded himself. _They may just be mistaking you for someone else._

"Owen?" He eventually managed to choke out, "w-where-"

The boys never got to hear the rest of the question, as just then, the sound of a vehicle engine pierced the eerie silence that had grown between the two parties.

Peter grimaced. By now, someone would have noticed the crashed ship and come to investigate, and the Guardians were in no state to be questioned by some overly-obnoxious Terran authorities.

They needed to get out of there.

He sprung into action, looping Gamora's arm around his neck and moving suddenly to force her back on her feet, grunting in pain. Drax, following his lead, hefted Mantis in his arms, and Rocket, still cradling the baby Groot, scurried onto his shoulder.

 _Move move move!_

The last thing they needed was to get caught. But what about the boys?

Quill cast a quick glance at them. They hadn't moved. Any other time, he would have possibly taken them with him, but they needed to move and needed to move _now_.

He turned his back on them and began to run, teammates hot on his heels. Medical aid could wait.

Vaguely hearing the Terrans' cries for him to stop in the back of his mind, he forced his legs forward, pushing so much that his lungs began to strain.

He just hoped the two Terrans wouldn't give them up.

After all, they were the only connection he had to finding his brother.

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Zach mind was spinning. That alien looked so much like Owen, and it appeared to know him. What was going on?!

He pulled Gray closer to his chest as two official-looking black SUVs pulled up.

 _I thought you weren't allowed to drive in this forest!_ Inconsiderate assholes.

He forced the random protest out of his mind. Forests were the last thing he needed to think about now.

Gray trembled under his touch as the first of the SUVs stopped, out of which climbing an official-looking woman wearing a jacket with some kind of insignia sewed onto the shoulder. She took a few steps in their direction, face twisted in what Zach thought was supposed to be a kind look.

"You guys see this?" She gestured to the spaceship still lying in front of them, dark hair swishing behind her shoulder. They nodded. "Was there anything inside?"

Zach opened his mouth to reply, but Gray beat him to it.

"No. It had already crashed by the time we got here, so anything inside was long gone."

Zach looked down in surprise, but his younger brother nudged him as if to say shut up. The woman narrowed here eyes suspiciously. "How long ago was that?"

"Not long. We only got here a few minutes ago."

The woman didn't believe them. Suspicion was written plainly all over her features. Zach was briefly aware that he was holding his breath under her scrutinising gaze.

After a moment, evidently summing up that the reason for their lying was because they had wanted to explore the ship, the woman nodded. "You guys had better go. Don't tell anyone."

Zach nodded, swallowing. They may not yet be legal adults, but there was a clear threat underneath the woman's words. "Thank you."

He began walking back the way they had come, giving Gray a tug on his arm to get him to follow.

"If you did see anything, you should let us know. Whatever was in that ship might be dangerous."

Zach turned back to the official-looking woman. By now, there were teams of people all in a similar uniformly to what the woman was wearing getting out pieces of odd-looking equipment and placing it around the fallen ship.

He forced a polite smiled onto his face.

"We didn't see anything."

 **(JW JW JW JW JW)**

 **So, now the Guardians are on the run and the boys suspect Peter's identity. The plot thickens...**

 **Ok, so to avoid any potential confusion later on, this story takes place some time after GOTG2 and Avengers:AoU. It is only a few months after the first JW. This means that SHIELD has been dissolved after CA:TWS, but a few high-level operatives continue to work undercover. Naturally, they would be interested in a falling spaceship.**

 **JW:FK takes place 3 years after JW, which in this universe takes place just before IW, meaning that the timelines pretty much match.**

 **Hope that clears a few things up. :)**

 **Reviews:**

 ** _An Anonymoose_ : I'm glad you're interested! Thanks for the review :)**

 ** _REBD_ : I'm glad you like it! Was this chapter satisfactory?**

 ** _Mr E_ : You've actually guessed a few elements that may come later, thank you for the review :) Also, I hadn't considered the Walkman, that will definitely come up later in the story :) thanks for the inspiration!**

 ** _Keranovi_ : Thank you for the great review! I will actually be touching on how the two differ due to their upbringings a it later on, I'm glad you thought of that :) I did put in a little bit of alien language in this chapter, but there will be more to come :)**

 ** _Guest_ : Thanks for the review! I will try to include Fallen Kingdom later on, I do like the idea of a family dynamic with Maisie, so if I don't manage to get it in this story, I may write a one-shot or sequel if I get onto it. **

**_Guest_ : Wait and see ;) I don't want to give away too much, but yes, the island will become a major plot point later on in the story. Thanks for reviewing!**

 ** _Ian N_ : Thanks for the review! I like the ideas, and I will definitely write something about Infinity War, but it might not be in this story, as it is primarily about the reunion of the twins. **

**_Antonela_ : Thank you, I'm glad you like it!**

 ** _Guest_ : Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this chapter!**

 **Thank you guys so much for reading! See you for the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6: A Tough Decision

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait, it took a while to finish the chapter. Thanks for the favs, follows and reviews in the meantime :)**

 **I also took the liberty of creating the woods that the Mitchell brother's were walking in. I based it in California, because I have no idea where the two are supposed to live. If anyone does know, please tell me so I can edit this. Thanks! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own JW or GOTG :(**

 ** _Chapter 6: A Tough Decision_**

"Gray!" Zach hissed as he held his younger brother's arm in a vice-grip, dragging him through the woods until they were finally out of eye and ear-shot of the mysterious people they had left behind. "What the hell was that?"

Gray's eyes flicked up to Zach in annoyance, but he chose to say nothing until they reached a more secluded area, sunlight trickling through the dense green leaves of the trees.

"Zach, that was Peter. Owen's twin."

Zach let out a noise of annoyance, swinging around so he was face-to-face with his younger brother. Looking, up Gray caught his brother's mystified and slightly terrified gaze. He doesn't get it. Gray grabbed his arm before racing off again, pulling Zach behind him. "We have to tell him!"

"Wha-Gray, stop!" Zach protested, using his heavier weight to grind both boys to a stop. "What if it wasn't actually him?"

Gray frowned. _What?_

Catching his confused look, Zach rolled his eyes before elaborating: "Think about it, Gray. An alien spaceship crashes from out of nowhere the day after Owen talks about his missing twin and he just _happens_ to be in it? Be reasonable."

Gray blinked. Zach had a good point, but "how else would you explain how the two look so similar?"

Zach rolled his eyes again. "I don't know, Gray, they're aliens. They could have all sorts of tricks up their sleeve. Maybe it just took the form of someone we know to gain our trust. They didn't look exactly the same, after all."

"But even identical twins don't look the same if they were brought up in different environments. I can imagine that being brought up in space is pretty different to being brought up on Earth. And did you see his reaction when he heard Owen's name?"

"And what if it was all an act, huh? What if those aliens were just trying to take advantage of the fact that we had no defences and get us to trust them so they could, I don't know, kidnap us or something, Gray?"

Gray bit his lip, head falling forward so that he was staring at his crumpled and faded old shoes, mud splattered over the sides. His blonde curls bounced at the side of his head.

"But... What if it really is him?"

"It isn't." Zach insisted, placing both hands on Gray's shoulder. Even through his top, he could feel his hands shaking slightly.

"But what if it is, and we just let him slip away?"

Zach pulled back, sighing and wrapping his hoodie tighter around his abdomen.

"Well... He introduced himself as Star-Lord, right? Maybe we can ask Owen if the name means anything to him. If not, it's probably an impostor. After all, why wouldn't he just introduce himself as Peter?"

Gray nodded. "If he recognises it, chances are that it's actually him. We didn't know the name beforehand, so it couldn't have changed to look like Owen or something."

Just then, Zach's eyebrows narrowed into a frown. "But how are we going to ask him? He'll want to know why we asked, and we can't exactly just say ' _yeah, we saw a guy that looks exactly like you and he said that and we wanted to know if you decades-missing twin brother just happened to land in front of us_ '."

Gray, despite everything, giggled a bit at his brother's high-pitched tone of voice. "We'll think of something."

(JW JW JW JW JW)

 _"Got anything?"_

 _"No, nothing. Except..."_

 _"Except what, Hill?"_

 _"There were two civilian children already there when we arrived at the scene. One late teens with dark hair, the other barely into double figures with blonde hair. They were definitely lying when we asked if they saw anything."_

 _"How do you know they hadn't just snooped around the place? Kids are pretty curious."_

 _"I know, I just.. Feel like there's something more."_

 _"Well, if they come back to the area looking suspicious, do some investigation. May be worth looking into."_

 _"Alright, sir. I'll look into it."_

 _"Good. Oh, and Hill?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _Be on guard. We don't know if theses aliens are connected to the Chitauri attack. Keep any eye on nearby residential areas, too."_

 _"Alright. Goodbye, Fury."_

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Peter took in huge breaths, gulping precious oxygen as his chest heaved after running for so long whilst in his condition. All around him, his teammates appeared to be in a similar state, hunched over and panting.

The injured Guardians had finally found refuge in a small cave next to a stream- less of a cave really, more like a small ditch in the ground. Rocket had quite literally stumbled upon it when the raccoon had tripped, tumbling into it and curling his furry body around Groot to protect him.

After they had established that the raccoon and _florus collossus_ were unharmed (or, at least, no more harmed than they had been previously) they had all eased themselves down for some cover from the mysterious Terrans that had forced them to run in case they came looking for them.

Peter leaned his head against the side of the cave, letting out a whistle as he blew air through his teeth.

How could he have been so _stupid_?

He had allowed the only possible connections to his twin to disappear, run away, most likely never to be seen again by them. Hot tears welled up behind his eyes at the thought of never seeing Owen again, and it being his own stupidity that made it so.

He should have come sooner. He should have returned to Earth as soon as Yondu gave him the Milano. He could've found Owen, reunited with him, perhaps shown him the wonders of the Galaxy that sat just outside his fingertips.

He should - _calm down_ , he thought, and almost immediately, his breaths became more even, the fog around his head cleared and his wire-strung muscles relaxed into the damp cave wall.

Looking up, he saw Mantis, delicate hand place over his cheek, tears shining in her wide eyes.

"You were crying." She stated kindly, antenna atop her head glowing in an almost angelic light.

Peter sighed. He was becoming too riled up. He could figure it out another time, when his team weren't all injured and they weren't dangerously close to the Terran organisation.

He murmured a small 'thank you' to Mantis, and she pulled away, a weak smile tugging at her lips. His forest green eyes travelled over to Gamora, who was leaning against the wall of the cave, examining her own arm.

"You alright, 'Mora?" He asked. Gamora's head shot up to meet his gaze, pink tipped hair falling over her face. She brushed it out of the way impatiently.

"I was just thinking." She stated.

Despite everything, Quill smirked. "Oh? What about?"

Gamora rolled her eyes at him but couldn't prevent the small smile from creeping onto her face. Peter's chest filled with warmth, but it didn't last long.

"What if the humans think that we are responsible for the invasion my father- no, Thanos- sent to earth a few years ago?"

The calm Peter was feeling snapped.

"W-what?"

Gamora took a breath.

"A couple of years back, after myself and Nebula- trained- him, Thanos sent a young being to invade Earth and bring it under his own rule. He- wasn't completely aware of what he was doing, Thanos had influenced him using one of the Infinity Stones."

 _Purple everywhere. Pain. Screaming. His mother-_

Quill forced himself back into the present, taking a few calming gasps and motioned for Gamora to continue, a growing feeling of nausea settling in his stomach.

"Everything was going to plan, until that being and his army of Chitauri- Thanos' army of disposable creatures- was brought down by Terra's defences. Thanos had lost not only Earth, but the Infinity Stone as well. He was... Particularly harsh on Nebula and myself for the next few months."

Quill furrowed his eyebrows. "But surely they got the guy who did it, right? What does that have to do with us?"

Rocket, from the corner of the cave, visibly rolled his eyes. "It was obvious the guy who did it was working for somebody. Of course they'd be cautious when a group of us idiots just waltz up uninvited to their planet, dumbass."

Gamora nodded. "And besides, before the Terrans were able to handle the invasion, thousands of people had been killed. It's only natural that they would want to find whoever was behind it and seek justice for their deaths."

For a moment, Peter forgot how to breathe. "Thousands?"

Rocket groaned. "I can't believe you didn't know this before, Quill. It's your home planet! That, and everyone in the galaxy knows about the invasion- it's the first time that one of Thanos' invasions had failed. Even Drax knows about it!"

Drax nodded. "It is true. It is admirable how the puny Terrans were able to ward off Thanos. I have a great respect for them."

Rocket shook his head again. "How did you not know about this, Quill?"

"I am Groot!"

Peter couldn't hear them. His eyes were fixed on the side of the cave, breathing heavier and faster, heart thumping in his chest, in his throat, in his forehead.

 _Nonononononononono_ -

He'd stayed away from Earth because he was scared to see Owen. But-

What if he had been killed in this invasion?

What if Peter had turned his back on his twin and allowed him to die?

Was _that_ why the boys looked like they had seen a ghost?

His heart hammered him his chest.

 _Thump-thump._

He needed to find out if he was still alive.

 _Thump-thump._

He struggled to his feet, ignoring the surprised outcries of his fellow Guardians.

 _Thump-thump._

He staggered over to the entrance of the cave.

He was nearly there-

A hand on his head.

 _Sleep_.

His knees buckled, and the world went black.

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Owen sat on the couch, running his hands through Claire's hair from where she lay curled into his side, lips lifting in a smile as she hummed contentedly.

With his other hand, he held the TV remote, absent-middle flicking through the different channels, nothing particularly grabbing his attention.

He lay his head back on the pillow, shuffling and changing get his position so that he was slightly more comfortable whilst trying not to jostle Claire too much, who was by now practically falling asleep.

"-This is just in, a meteor has just crashed at Brownland's woods in California. Witnesses claim to have seen an orange object hurtling through the atmosphere before colliding with the Earth at an unequalled high speed. Citizens have been advised not to go near it as officials investigate. More on this later."

The television screen flashed back to the logo of whatever news station it was that they were watching.

Claire bolted up. "Oh my god. That- that woods is where the boys are!"

Owen stood up, reaching for the his phone to call Zach, check that they were OK, do something-

He was cut off by the sound of keys in the front door.

Owen raced over, just in time to see Zach and Gray trail into the house, looking tired and slightly on edge. The tension in his chest was release, and Owen let out a huge breath that he hadn't been aware he was holding.

Claire and Karen followed him, Karen racing forward to embrace her boys as Claire took Owen's arm in relief. She must have told Karen whilst he had been running to the door.

"Are you guys okay? What happened?!" Karen was holding Gray's face and cupping his chin in one hand, the other clenched onto Zach's shoulder.

"Nothing. We're heard a loud boom, the ground shook a bit, and then these people sent us home." Gray's face was tight, almost emotionless, but something in his expression immediately alerted Owen to the fac that he was lying. Gray had never been a good liar.

Owen's eyebrows furrowed. What could they possibly be hiding?

"I'm glad," he said instead of questioning further. Zach nodded at him, exchanging an uncomfortable glance with Owen before the two boys retreated to their rooms, claiming that they were tired.

 _What's up with them?_

(JW JW JW JW JW)

Maria Hill frowned at the alien spaceship, taking in the harsh cracks and folds in what she supposed was once a graceful ship.

Even if these aliens apparently thought that blue and orange went well together.

Taking a step towards it, she examined where a large amount of glass had shattered onto the ground. If she could only get a look inside-

"Be careful, ma'am." One of the scientists said, gently leading her back a few steps. "Even if there are no aliens left inside, there could be all sorts of traps or even disease in there."

Maria nodded curtly, snatching her hand back.

She inspected the ship some more, until she saw something that caught her eye.

She didn't even need to see the numbers that she was dialling as she held the burn phone up to her ear.

"Fury?"

 _"Yes, Hill?"_

She smirked. "I think I've found something."

 **(GOTG GOTG GOTG)**

 **That's all for now, folks! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

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	7. Chapter 7: Suspicion

**I AM SO SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG. I know that it isn't really an excuse, but I've been really busy and had some bad writer's block, which meant that this chapter hadn't been written for ages. But thank you for waiting for it for so long, you guys are awesome! If it hadn't have been for your comments I don't know if I would have continued, so thanks for the inspiration :)**

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 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still don't own JW or GOTG :(**

 ** _Chapter 7: Suspicion_**

The Internet was going crazy.

Apparently, some scientists eager to reach the fallen meteor before anyone else had arrived at the scene of the crash to find nothing else but an alien space ship, inside completely taken out and leaving only the shell, most likely cleaned out by some shady government agency.

Three were three main groups: Group One was _This-Is-The-Apocalypse-It's-New-York-Again-Panic-Panic-Panic_ , Group Two being _This-Is-Some-Hoax-Probably-Some-Company-Trying-To-Get-Attention_ , and finally the _I'll-Sit-Back-And-See-How-It-Goes_ group.

Personally, Claire was somewhere between Groups 2 and 3.

Her nephews were apparently on the edge of the first group, if the uneasy glances the two brothers kept giving each other had been any indication.

Karen had called the two into the living room as soon as the announcement on the news from an anonymous tip that the meteor had turned out to be an alien spaceship and quickly wrapped her boys in a hug before questioning them both about their experience in the forest again.

Both of them had _insisted_ that they had been nowhere near the spaceship when it had landed, and that they hadn't seen anything that could have been danger out or suspicious.

Karen had backed off after that, satisfied.

Claire, however, was not.

Part of her job at Jurassic World before the disaster had been trying to get as many sponsors to the park as possible. This meant that, whatever Zach and Gray seemed to believe, she was very good at reading people.

She knew how they used body language subconsciously to display if they were interested or not, often unconsciously, so she knew when people were lying about getting involved in the project.

She knew the boys weren't telling the truth.

And Owen, with all his Navy training, did too.

She had seen him watching the boys with curiosity and slight suspicion when he knew that they weren't looking, tell-tale signs alerting her to this such as the crease between his eyebrows and the small downturn of his lips.

The boys, in turn, had done nothing to avert whatever it was that his suspicions were, flinching whenever the wood area that the ship had been discovered was mentioned, quickly switching the channel (when they had the chance) whenever a new report mentioned it, and finally, the most obvious one, walking out of a room whenever Owen entered one.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the familiar tune of the news channel's title theme started playing, glancing around the room. Karen wasn't in there, having left a short while ago to do some shopping, which left only herself, Owen, Zach and Gray.

The two brothers were sitting quietly in the corner of the room, heads tipped together and talking quietly with each other about something.

Normally, Claire would have dismissed it as some brotherly issue they were talking out, but the glances they kept giving her and Owen, eyes quickly darting out to check that they had stayed where they were before flickering back when they saw they were being watched, spoke of something different.

When this pattern had gone on for the third time, Claire decided to just get her concerns out into the open, hoping that it would solve any issues the boys had.

"Is everything alright, you two?"

Zach and Gray both froze.

Then, slowly, moving in synchronised moves that almost looked haunted, the brothers turned their heads to the side to see her, Zach plastering a false smile so wide it threatened to split his cheeks, and Gray with wide eyes, reminding Claire of a deer caught in the headlights.

"We're fine, Aunt Claire." Zach replied, clearly intentionally being vague in the hopes that she would let the matter drop.

Claire was not so easily deterred.

"The two of you have been really quiet since you got back from the woods the other day. Are you sure you're okay?"

Owen shifted from his position opposite Claire to come and stand next to her, silently offering support to her impromptu interrogation just as Gray nodded, large jerky movements that caused his blonde curls to bounce atop his head.

Zach wiped his hands on his jeans nervously, but still did not give up his act.

"Oh, y'know, just brother stuff."

Gray's head shot towards his older brother, mouth opening slightly and blue eyes widening even further than they were, foot involuntary kicking out and making contact with Zach's knee, who winced.

At the kick or choice of wording, Claire wasn't sure.

Owen squared his shoulders, chin tilting slightly upwards, muscles tensing ever so slightly. "Oh, yeah? What kind of stuff?"

Zach's expression shifted slightly from that false smile hiding guilt to slight annoyance, but it never lost its cautious air, whole body radiating the sense of being on guard.

"Why do you want to know?"

Owen's eyes narrowed at the obvious challenge, but didn't back down.

"Maybe I'm just curious why you keep sneaking off all the time, it's worrying us."

Gray looked down, picking at his nails and refusing to make eye contact.

"You don't have to worry..."

The clock ticked quietly in the background, each tick echoing through the deafening silence.

"It's really nothing." Zach picked up again, trying to rescue himself and his brother out of the hole that they were slowly digging themselves into. "Honestly, we appreciate your concern, but it doesn't matter. School stuff, y'know?"

Owen and Claire exchanged a look. Neither were convinced, but the boys clearly weren't going to tell them what was going on just yet.

"Ok then," Claire said, relaxing her posture like Owen had taught her in order to seem less of a threat to the boys, "as long as you're sure you're alright."

Gray's shoulders relaxed slightly, but Zach was not convinced, if the slightly guarded look he shot them was anything to go on. Taking Gray by the arm, he lead him out of the living room and into his bedroom, staring firmly ahead and not sparing a glance towards the adults in front of them.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Claire spun round to face Owen.

"They're up to something."

"Definitely." He agreed.

There was a pause.

"I'm going to follow them when they next go out."

Claire's eyes went as large as saucers. "What? Why?"

Owen grasped her forearms in a strong grip.

"They've only been acting like this since they got back from the woods. There's a possibility that they're being threatened, either by the government of the owners of the ship themselves. I just want to check that they're alright."

Claire found herself nodding, a cold feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

"Okay."

(JW JW JW JW JW)

 _Ugh..._

Peter blinked as he shifted from his position of the floor, eyes shifting blearily around him to see his teammates gathered around him, all with equal looks of worry in their eyes. Guilt immediately flooded his senses, pooling in his stomach and stabbing at his heart.

Now that the wild panic had disappeared and his heart was beating at a far more regular rate, realisation had finally sink in. He had tried to _abandon_ the other Guardians.

He had tried to abandon the whilst they were _injured_ and _vulnerable_.

God, he was a _terrible_ person.

"I-" he began to croak out, and _when did his throat get so dry_ -?

"It's okay, Quill." Surprisingly, it was Rocket that spoke first. "I dunno what the hell that was, but we don't blame ya for it. Mantis says your emotions were all over the place."

Peter blinked. That was... Not what he had been expecting, actually. _But still..._

"No, I-I owe you guys an explanation. Before I left earth, when I was younger..." He chuckled dryly. "God, this is hard."

Groot reached out and patted his sleeve. "I am Groot."

 _Take your time._

"I'm not an only child." He blurted. "I've got a twin brother called Owen and we used to be really close, but then I left and he's been all alone and now I'm here, I don't know what to do because I need to find him but I can't leave you guys and-"

He swore quietly to himself. "I'm no good at this."

There was a brief silence whilst the others digested the new information.

"Peter." Gamora reached out, her warm jade hands enclosing his own ice-cold ones. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I didn't know how... And then the whole thing with-" his mouth twisted subconsciously into a scowl, "-Ego happened, and-"

His heart leaped into his stomach. "Oh, God, Ego, he doesn't know about Ego-"

Mantis reached out, and immediately, Peter felt the panic slip from him, shoulders releasing tension that he hadn't even realised was there.

Peter took a deep breath. He was a leader, dammit, and his teammates were depending on him.

"I'll talk about it later.." He saw Drax frown and open his mouth to say something, but Peter pushed on anyway, cutting him off. "We need to find a better shelter than this place and supplies. Then we can figure out wherever the hell we are and get out of here and be on our merry way."

" I am Groot!"

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Peter shuddered, shivers running up his spine and engulfing his chest. "If I ever see Owen, then I'll try and reunite with him. But... We have more immediate problems-" as much as he hated to admit it, "- and there's a chance that we won't see each other anyway."

There was an awkward pause.

"There must be civilisation nearby, those Terran boys from earlier-" she kindly ignored Peter's flinch, "can't have come from far off, and they carried no supplies with them, so they can't have been travellers."

"I say we we leave this place," Drax added. "The floor is most unpleasant to sit on. I feel sore."

Peter nodded. "Good idea."

"Well, I for one want ta recover our ship. Stupid humies prob'bly took all our stuff. If we wanna be going anywhere, we should be tracking 'em."

Gamora nodded. "Rocket has a point. So we get supplies and then track our equipment?"

There were murmurs of agreement from everyone with the exception of Mantis, who raised her hand meekly.

Peter clapped his hands, hoping he looked more confident than he felt. "Let's get going, then!"

Catching the looks the others gave him, he gave a small huff of air in an imitation of a laugh. "Don't worry, guys. I'm much more chill now. Thanks."

Drax frowned.

"I do not understand. How can you be more chilled if the temperature has not dropped?"

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Fury linked his fingers together and leaned on his elbows, peering at Maria with his one eye as she walked in.

Her eyes flicked from side to side, quickly taking in the office before her, most notably the picture on a tablet on the jet black desk that displayed the alien spacecraft and the pile of papers sat beside it, all covered in possible theories as to the alien presence on earth.

"Hill, just on time. Take a seat, you got me curious about this 'artefact' that you found from our extraterrestrial visitors." He made air quotes with his fingers as he shifted position, leaning against the back of the massive leather chair he was seated in.

Hill smirked, sitting on the chair opposite Fury, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the item that had caught her interest the previous day. Placing it on the table, she slid it closer to her boss so that he could get a better look at it.

Fury raised an eyebrow.

"A Zune? Are you trying to tell me that these aliens like music?"

Hill felt her lips twitch upwards briefly, before falling into a frown of concentration.

"Not quite. A Zune is earth technology, most notably known for their line of portable music players. However, Microsoft shut it down for good in 2012, mostly because their stocks took a massive hit shortly after the Manhattan attack, so they decided to focus on more lucrative parts of the company, such as gaming devices and laptops."

"What's your point? For all we know those kids on the scene could have owned it."

"Unlikely. The younger one would likely never have come into contact with a Zune, what with companies such as Apple and SI coming up with devices like the iPhone and Starkphone. For him, a Zune would simply be forgotten, outdated technology."

Fury nodded at her analysis, signalling for her to continue. "The older one had a Starkphone sticking out of his pocket, so wouldn't have needed a Zune. It must have come from the ship itself."

Fury's mouth twisted upright into a smirk, the same expression that Maria had seen many times when a theory had begun to form in his head.

"So how did these aliens managed to get hold of outdated earth technology?"

Had Hill been one to drum her fingertips on the table in front of her, she would certainly have been doing so. "The most likely scenario was before the New York attack. After then, Zunes were much harder to get ahold of, so it would likely have been before that time. Of course, it could have been during the invasion, but..."

She let the thought trail off. Fury picked it up again.

"But the Chitauri would have had no reason to get one at the time." He grimaced. "This means that unknown forces have been infiltrating our planet for quite some time. For all we know, they could have been collecting data on us, like Hydra, but with all sorts of technology that we can't even begin to understand."

Hill suppressed a shudder. "We need to be on guard."

"We need information. And we can start-" Fury pointed to the tablet in front of him, "-with this."

"What if they're friendly? We could start an intergalactic war. One, I might add, that we are in no way prepared for."

Fury frowned, eyebrows drawn so close together that they lay in one long line across his forehead, a deep crease cutting it in half.

"Then let's get prepared. We need to know everything we can about these aliens. And I have a good idea of where to start."

He pulled out a couple of photos, placing them on the desk in front of Maria.

Her eyes widened.

It was the boys from earlier.

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Peter grunted, pulling himself out of the cave-like area that he and his team had been hiding in for the last who-knows-how-long and rolled, grunting slightly as he caught his foot on a tree root.

Almost instinctively, his hand went to his pocket, stomach dropping when there was nothing.

" _Shit_!"

 **(GOTG GOTG GOTG)**

 **Ta-da! That's the end of the chapter! I'm sorry if it seemed rushed, I was quite anxious to get it out soon so as not to keep you waiting. If it was too rushed, I may try and re-write the chapter after I finish the story, but I want to try and get the rest of the plot finished first.**

 **I actually did have to google a Zune to get the basics (but I took out some of the information I'd originally written so it wouldn't take from the story), and I noticed that the year Zunes stopped being manufactured was the year Avengers came out, so I added that as a little Easter egg :)**

 **It was a bit of a filler chapter, so I'm sorry if it was a little slow, but I hope that it answered a few of your questions!**

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 ** _Guest_ : She will at some point :) At the moment, I'm not entirely sure when, but it will happen :)**

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 **Thanks for reading! See you for the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8: Persuit

**Hello! I'm alive! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to be uploaded, I've been very busy recently and haven't found time to write.**

 **Thanks to everyone for the continued support and encouragement, as that is what, above everything else, inspired me to keep writing this story. It honestly makes me smile to see the reviews that are left. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own the JW or GOTG franchises (as cool as that would be).**

 ** _Chapter 8: Persuit_**

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Gray? We don't even know if Owen knows this guy! We didn't check! And now you want to just waltz back to the site of that spaceship or whatever-it-was to talk to him?"

Gray ignored his older brothers protest's, pulling on his worn sneakers and tying the laces quickly.

"Yeah, Zach. The others are obviously suspicious, so the sooner we sort this out, the sooner things can go back to how they were."

Zach swore quietly under his breath so as not to let Gray hear (he was careful around his brother, whatever his mother said) and began pulling on his own shoes with a violence and jerkiness to his motions that were not necessarily needed, but gave a sense of savage satisfaction despite his annoyance.

His younger brother, that _idiot_ , peered up at him through blonde curls, blue eyes shining smugly.

"So you agree with me?"

Having finished putting on his shoes, Zach began pulling on his favourite hoody, never breaking eye contact with the young smug jerk.

"No, I don't, Gray! If this is who we think they are, things obviously will not be the same, and if it isn't then who knows what could happen? The only reason that I am coming with you is because I know you'll go even if I don't because you're stubborn like that, and without me you'll probably end up arrested at the very least."

"Good thing you _are_ coming then."

God, he was about to _strangle_ the idiot!

Gray grabbed the house keys from the little pot by the door in which their mother kept it and unlocked it, stepping out into the warm mid-morning sun. Zach, sighing under his breath, stomped outside before Gray locked the door behind him.

"Let's go, then!"

Jamming his hands in his pockets, Zach strode next to his brother, trying to dispel the uncomfortable sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and the unshakeable feeling of being followed.

(JW JW JW JW JW)

"I... I don't understand..." Gray mumbled beneath his breath, staring at the empty clearing. "The ship was right here. I'm sure of it!"

Zach put an hand on his shoulders, tugging slightly as if to drag him away from the dirt pile that until recently had a gigantic alien spaceship dumped on top of it.

"It was. Someone has to have moved it."

Gray cast a cautious glance around them. They _definitely_ weren't supposed to be here, if the warning signs hung on the trees a way out were any indicator. His stomach turned again.

Despite what Zach teased, breaking into top-secret government investigation areas was most certainly _not_ his idea of fun.

He frowned. For a top-secret government investigation site, there was very little protection. The other day when they had been there, there had been large amounts of people. Surely they wouldn't just up and leave, would they? Especially not after a massive find such as an alien spaceship?

 _No_. This was deliberate. They were waiting. And, with a sinking heart, Gray realised that they had walked straight into their trap. Gray tugged lightly at Zach's sleeve, intending for them to leave before being caught-

 _"We took the shell out this morning, in case you were wondering."_

His stomach dropped

(JW JW JW JW JW)

Owen frowned from his position from behind a nearby tree, leaning around it cautiously and unable to shake the slight feeling of guilt and the the sense of being caught in some ridiculous spy movie.

 _Isn't this where the spaceship crashed? What could they be doing here? Did they see something? Is that why they're acting so weird?_

Shaking his head as if to clear the questions from it, Owen made as if to step out from behind the tree and confront the boys, before the snapping of twigs somewhere in front of him caused him to duck back under cover, heart beating furiously.

Cautiously, Owen peered around the tree again, taking care that he would not be seen by either the boys or whoever else was lurking nearby. His muscles tensed, ready to spring and burst into action if whoever it was turned out to be a threat.

"We took the shell out this morning, in case you were wondering."

Just then, a woman stepped into the clearing.

She was slim, with dark hair tied back in a practical ponytail that hung down the back of her neck. Her eyes, dark and thoughtful, surveyed the area before settling on the two boys standing in front of her.

" _You_..." Zach muttered, putting an arm of Gray's shoulders and pulling him to his side, eyes narrowing.

So they knew each other. _Interesting_.

"Hey, kids." The woman said, shifting her stance slightly so that that her feet weren't quite in line and her chest and neck were slightly more exposed. _Trying not to appear a threat..._

Zach, despite the woman's efforts, still looked incredibly wary. "What do you want?"

"Just to ask a few questions." She nodded her head towards the place where the ship was supposed to have been found. "We're trying to investigate, and we thought you guys might be able to fill us in on a few gaps."

 _We? Who's we? A government agency or something?_

"But we already told you that we didn't see anything!" Gray protested, voice increasing in pitch slightly as a signal of his obvious distress. The woman didn't look convinced.

"Perhaps that's what you believe, but maybe whatever that was-" she gestured again to the clearing, "-made you forget. Or..." Her expression softened, for a moment looking genuinely like she felt sorry for the boys. "Maybe they told you not to tell us. Are they threatening you?"

Both boys shook their heads. It looked unconvincing.

Owen's stomach filled with ice, and he felt his heartbeat increase until the pressure in chest became almost painful. God, what if they _were_ being threatened? That would explain why they looked so worried and guilty whenever he spoke to them, and it would _also_ explain why they haven't said anything...

Owen was so deep in his thoughts that he almost missed Zach and Gray following the woman towards the edge of the clearing, where a cleverly-disguised SUV sat, tucked behind the trees. The woman said something to them, too far away for Owen to make out, before the boys climbed into the back seats, their companion climbing in the front and taking the wheel. There didn't appear to be anyone else.

The SUV pulled out, reversing away from the clearing and turning around, _the sound of car wheels disappearing into the distance,_ _never to appear again-_

 _Focus, Owen_. He growled, shaking his head.

He wasn't going to lose those boys they way he lost his brother. No way in hell.

He was going to get them back.

But first, he had to make a call.

(JW JW JW JW JW)

"Uh, here's a black vehicle coming this way, Quill! Must be those Terran agents you were after!"

Rocket scurried down from his hideout in the tree branches above where the Guardians were resting, ears twitching and twisting continually, picking up sounds that Gamora couldn't begin to imagine.

Quickly, she grasped her favourite sword, ducking under the cover of a nearby bush, the green leaves perfectly disguising the soft tones of her skin. (The back of her mind gasped in amazement at green leaves. She'd never seen anything like it before. Terra was a beautiful planet, when she took time time admire it).

The crunch of twigs before a sudden silence alerted her to the fact that the rest of her team had also hidden themselves nearby. If she strained, she could just see the corner of her Peter's jacket poking out from the cave entrance.

True to Rocket's word, the sound of engines steadily grew louder, twigs snapping and leaves rustling under the large, heavy wheels, gradually drawing closer and closer to where they hid.

Gamora shifted slightly just before the strange Terran vehicle came into view, wincing slightly as a bolt of pain shot through her joints. Her eyes widened, enhanced vision taking in as much detail as possible.

In the front of the car-thing, an unfamiliar Terran woman sat, grasping a round wheel with both hands. Her head, with dark hair tied behind her neck, was tilted slightly, eyes still on the woods ahead of her but in a position where she could potentially converse with anyone else in the vehicle.

Gamora mentally filed away the appearance of the woman, before looking into the next window.

Her mouth dropped open. It was the Terran boys that found them earlier! What could they possibly be doing with that agent woman?

Slight rustling to her right told her that Peter had jerked in surprise, meaning that he obliviously hadn't anticipated seeing the boys either. They certainly didn't seem the time to travel with strangers, if the cautious looks on their faces were anything to go by, so why would they...?

Unless they didn't go willingly.

Gamora felt her muscles tense, a familiar sense of tension rippling through her body at the thought. Those Terran agents obviously had no boundaries whatsoever, and those boys could be in danger.

Mind made up, she shifted, swiftly bringing herself out of the bush and behind a tree, ignoring the frantic whispers of ' _Gamora_!' from her foster family. Peering around, she watched as the vehicle grew further away.

"I'm going to follow them. They'll lead us to where the ship is," she stated, already reaching up and pulling herself up onto the lowest branch. She needed to stay in the leaves to stay camouflaged, so if she could get high enough...

"No way are you going alone." Peter protested, pulling himself up from his position crouched in the enterance of the cave.

"Yes... We should not be bynourselves in such an unfamiliar environment." Mantis agreed from where she had also just emerged from the cave.

The others chimed in with their own protests, and it took nearly all of Gamora's remaining strength not to roll her eyes. She was more than capable of handling herself. But still, they were worried for her... (She tried to ignore the warmth pooling in her chest at the thought.)

"Right. Peter and I will follow the Terran vehicle as I can track it most effectively and Peter camouflages the best out of all of us here. The rest of you track us and meet us there. We'll signal to tell you where we are."

With that, she began scaling the tree until she reached high enough to be blended into the leaves, but not so high that the branches no longer felt sturdy.

Glancing down for a moment, she met Peter's eyes as he shoved his hands in his pockets, attempting to adopt an aura of nonchalance before casually strolling beneath her, whistling slightly to bring anybody nearby's attention away from his slight limp.

The others nodded at them and crept back towards their hiding place.

Finally assured the others were safe, Gamora leapt to the next tree, and the next, and the next, keeping track of the vehicle but staying slightly behind so as not to be spotted.

It was time to see what those Terrans were up to.

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

"What do you mean _'they just got in the car_ '?! Why?" Claire shrieked from the passenger seat of Owen's 4x4, gripping the seat belt so tightly it looked under threat of tearing under her manicured nails.

"Exactly what I said. I don't know exactly what caused them to, but whoever the woman was seemed under the impression that they were being blackmailed by someone... Or something."

Owen twisted the wheel, swerving the car to the left and narrowly avoiding crashing the vehicle into a street lamp and the people nearby, who shouted in indignation.

"What am I supposed to tell Karen?" Claire's voice no longer sounded panicked, but still held an undertone of worry that made Owen's stomach twist. He _hated_ seeing her in that state, and she'd already seen enough worry and fear in her life.

"Hopefully, we should get this sorted." Keeping one hand on the wheel, Owen dug around in his pocket before pulling out his phone and handing it to Claire, who grasped it gingerly in her slim fingers as if she thought it may bite her.

She tilted her head at him curiously.

"I put a tracker on Zach's phone a couple of weeks after we got back from Jurassic World at Karen's suggestion. She wanted me to be able to find them in case they got into trouble."

His girlfriend nodded, deft fingers already unlocking it and opening the tracking app, studying where small green dot that showed Zach's location was. Once she had figured it out, she began relaying instructions to him, telling him which turns to take and when.

Cars whizzed by, buildings passed of all different shapes and sizes, flashes of light jumped into existence before winking out again.

Owen didn't pay attention to any of it. His eyes remained fixed on the road, occasionally flicking to the side to spot which direction to turn when instructed.

"We're here." Claire announced, finally looking up from his phone. The car sat just on the edge of what appeared to be the edge of an abandoned warehouse, metal tiles laid haphazardly across the roof, surrounded by a twisted metal fence standing guard outside.

It didn't look like much, but Owen knew better than to judge a books by its cover.

"Well," he started, turning to Claire and swallowing the sudden surge of nervousness simmering in his gut, "shall we?"

(JW JW JW JW JW)

Breaking into the military base or whatever-it-was had turned out to be surprisingly easy.

All it had taken Peter was knocking out one of the guards with one of Rocket's specially- modified sedatives and stealing his uniform, placing the unconscious man in a small room near the enterance.

(Normally he would feel bad about doing something like that, and whilst he did feel a little guilty, he would have felt worse had those agent people not taken his Zune. That was his most prized possession, and he would be damned if he didn't get it back!)

After he had put on the jacket and shirt, Peter ran a hand through the unruly curls on top of his head, trying to give it a semblance of control. He doubted that any government agent would allow unruly-looking men like Peter to work for them if they wanted to appear 'in control'.

(He did not, however, exchange his boots for the unfortunate guard's polished business shoes. They were simply too cool to leave behind.)

Gamora had then climbed into the vents, expertly removing the outside cover and slipping in unseen. From there, she had signalled the others using the tracker he kept in her own jacket. She'd smiled at him then, although it didn't reach her eyes, the normal glimmer shining in their depths absent. Tension had run through her muscles.

Agreeing to meet later, when she'd found the boys, Peter had grasped her hand, giving it a light squeeze and a smug smirk, before slipping in through the enterance where the guard had been standing.

Now he wandered through the halls, heart thumping dangerously quickly, blood rushing in his ears. Sure, he'd sneaked into places before, but never when trying to mimic someone else. He had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to behave.

(Gamora would be amazing at this. It was too bad that she had decided to stay hidden for the time being.)

 _"Where do you supposed they'd be?"_

A woman's voice echoed through the hall, not far from where Peter stood. Ice spread through his insides. His brain temporarily froze. _What do I do?_

Making a split-second decision, he opened the door closest to him, slipping inside as quickly and as silently as possible, trying to ignore the way his hand shook and the sweat that had gathered at the back of his neck. Shutting the door behind it, he leaned back with a sign of relief, the tension in his muscles easing slightly as the sound of footsteps continued right past the room which he was hiding in.

 _Don't let your guard down just yet_ , a voice in his head whispered, and Peter shot his head up, heartrate accelerating again. Scanning the room carefully, his green eyes took in his surroundings.

He was standing in an office of some sorts, a massive oak desk standing proudly with a comfortable-looking leather chair sat behind it. On the desk was as large computer screen, sleek and tall.

A low whistle escaped Peter's mouth. Creeping forward as if afraid the thing might bite him, Peter stared at it with wide eyes. _Terran technology's improved. Last time I was here, computers were massive, chunky things. Wow..._

He ran his hands over the screen, exploring every smooth surface, every curve, every gap on the side where he imagines the wires would go. Was the thing unplugged? Just as he was about to move away and snoop around the rest of the room, Peter glanced at some thing out of the corner of his eye that made him pause where he stood.

 _Stark Industires? I thought they only made weapons?_ That required more investigation.

Grabbing a keyboard that also appeared not to be connected to anything, Peter experimentally typed in a few random keys out of nothing but pure curiosity. He was not expecting the screen to come on.

Biting back a surprised shriek (how was he supposed to know the computer would turn on if it wasn't plugged in?!), Peter leaned forward to see that on the screen, all sorts of data was being displayed. _That's the Milano..._

Anger, unbidden, rose in his chest at seeing a photo of his beloved ship, the core completely taken out, surrounded by creepy-looking people in white lab coats.

Peter sat himself in the leather chair, once again casting a wary look around the room. Surely whoever used this office wouldn't just leave his computer unlocked for prying eyes, would they? Maybe they had something that they had to leave for suddenly? Maybe there wasn't anything on there to be hidden? There didn't seem to be many agents here, actually. Did something happen to the agency?

... Did this have anything to do with those boys?

Reading through the computer, Peter scoffed at how little they appeared to know about himself and the other Guardians. However, his scorn quickly turned to horror upon seeing that these agents thought that they were somehow connected to the New York Attack of 2012. Further down, it even stated that they may have been behind it...

"That's not good..." He murmured. If he got caught by these agents, there was no doubt he would be kept and questioned (he used he word _questioned_ in the loosest sense) about an attack that he had no idea about, and possibly used as a scapegoat.

He scanned the notes down further, all similar theories and action plans in case of emergencies, until one small paragraph at the end caught his attention.

 _Hill reported of two witnesses, one teenager and one child. Most likely lied about lack of knowledge. Questioning required._

Peter swore under his breath. That's what the boys were doing in the car! If that was the case, that could be in serious danger. Who knew what these nutcases could do to get answers?

Peter shot out of the chair, attempting to arrange everything the way it was before he had touched it. God, he hoped Gamora had found the boys whilst he was in there.

Suddenly, he froze. Footsteps, coming from outside.

Heading right for the door.

Quill ducked behind the desk, fumbling for his gun, finger hovering over the stun trigger (he might get some answers from whoever it was), hearing nothing but roaring in his ears and the continuous _thump-thump_ of his heart, so loud he was afraid whoever was outside would hear it.

 _Thump-thump_.

The footsteps were right there.

 _Thump-thump_.

The door creaked open.

 _Thump-thump_.

Peter swung from his hiding position, leaping over the desk and aiming the gun at the intruder, eyes already taking in the appreance of the stranger...

... Only to stare directly into his own face, staring in shock back at him.

 **(GOTG GOTG GOTG)**

 **Here you are!**

 **I was originally going to put the last section in the next chapter, but I figured I'd already made you guys wait long enough for it.**

 **If any of you are wondering why the records were so easy to access, let's just say that after SHIELD's fall, security had to be loosened in order not to draw suspicion. As for how the others got into the facility... I'll leave that to your imagination :D**

 **Onto the reviews!**

 ** _Keranovi_ : Thanks! I'm really glad you're enjoying this! Thanks for the review!**

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 ** _Ian N_ : Thanks for the feedback! I've actually been thinking about this for a while. Remember that Owen still believes that Owen was kidnapped similarly to how Zach and Gray arrived at SHIELD, so there will still be plenty of fallout to deal with when he learns the truth, never fear :D Thanks for the review!**

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 **See you for the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter9:ARevelation

**Wow. I have no words. I know it's been ages since I've updated, but that fact that you've stayed with me this long is amazing, wow! I'm so sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter, but writer's block decided to rear its ugly head, and I've gotten into other fandoms in the meantime, so I didn't get inspiration for this story for a long time.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has commented to remind me why I keep writing! Those reviews really do help me to sit down and actually write a chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Although it has been a very long time since I last uploaded a chapter, there have still been no changes in regards to the JW and GOTG franchises (I still don't own them, unfortunately).**

 ** _Chapter 9: A Revelation_ **

Owen could do nothing but stare.

Right in front of him, although covered in a few bruises and scrapes, stood a pratically identical man wearing some kind of uniform, also with an identical look of shock on his face.

The next thing Owen registered was the odd-looking weapon (a gun?) in his hand, and all of his military training kicked in. His fell back into a fighting stance before he had even taken a breath, and eyed the man tensely, even as his thoughts swirled in an incomprehensible whirl inside his head.

 _How?_ How could someone look so much like him and turn up in the same place? It wasn't possible!

 _Although it was supposed to be impossible for those dinosaurs to escape, too..._

The man in front of him, obviously in as much shock as he was, lowered his weapon whilst maintaining solid eye contact, mouth hanging slightly open. Something flickered in his eyes almost too quickly for Owen to register (panic? Fear?), but the stranger covered it up before he could properly analyse it.

Then, almost as if the stranger wearing his face had never been taken by surprise, he gave a smirk, leaning casually on the desk next to him.

"Well, what are the odds? I didn't think that Terra had advanced enough to create clones now!"

Owen blinked. _Clones_?

"-I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very flattered, but if this is some kind of trick to win my trust or something I'm not buying it."

What?

"Although," the man continued, gun held loosely in his hand, "it's only fair that you'd want to recreate the awesomeness that is me, Star-Lord-"

Owen's heart stopped.

"-but I'm afraid that although you look like me, I am in fact the original and will gladly kick your ass!"

The room was spinning.

Star-Lord.

 _Star-Lord_.

Only his family knew that name.

Only his grandparents, himself and-

"... Peter?"

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Hill took a seat in front of the desk in the interrogation room, staring at the two boys and crossing her arms.

"So, you boys agree to answer a few questions, and we'll let you go as soon as they're done."

The teen scoffed. "And if we don't?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "You can leave, obviously, but we won't be able to get any information on those aliens or make a guess at their plans. All we want is to determine if they're a threat. We're the good guys."

The boys in front of her shared a look, and the teen gave a curt nod. Maria smiled slightly. _Excellent_. _They're cooperating._ "Let's start simple. What was the first thing you saw?"

(JW JW JW JW JW)

It was as if a shock had shot through his entire nervous system.

Peter stilled, jaw dropping open somehow. For a few, tense seconds, he stared at his doppelgänger, neither man saying a word.

 _A trick. This must be a trick._

Quill tightened the grip on his gun and once again aimed it at the other man.

 _If this is a clone, they must know my real name, right?_

This time, however, the man sharing his face didn't get into a fighting stance, but instead raised his arms as if in a daze.

Peter opened his mouth, and attempted to dislodge words trapped behind his dry throat, but nothing came.

What had caused the complete shift in the other man's demeanour? A sinking feeling grew in his gut.

"Who are you?" Peter demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"How...?"

Peter snarled, finger tightening on the stun trigger. " _Answer me!_ "

His hand was shaking.

Why did his name completely take his clone off guard?

Sure, it was an outlaw name designed to be recognised by anyone, but this was Terra, the most backwater planet there was, the planet with no knowledge that the Nova Corps existed, let alone had contact with them! There was no way knowledge of him had extended this far.

Not recognition of his Guardian status, then.

The answer hit him with as much force and pain as a bullet wound to the chest.

A near identical stranger.

The shock and recognition at his code name. The one given to him by his mother.

The fact that he turned up at the same facility of those two boys, the ones that had called him by his brother's name...

 _It isn't possible_.

"Owen?"

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Claire crept through the quiet hall, heart thumping so loud it was ringing in her ears. She kept casting paranoid looks behind her as walked, grimacing at the thought of being caught.

 _Zach and Gray. I'm doing this for Zach and Gray_.

Tucking a strand of firery red hair behind her ear, Claire hastened her pace, walking so quickly that she was only just not running.

 _Why did Owen and I agree to split up again?_

She turned another corner, mentally filing the route that she had taken in case she needed to make a quick getaway. Stifling a hysterical giggle creeping at the back of her throat of the reminder that she was breaking into an actual government facility, Claire checked the coast was clear before continuing down the corridor.

Just then, a noise from the vents above her caused her heart to stutter.

Claire's head shot up to look at the ceiling above her.

Her heart rate increased tenfold.

 _Oh my god, something's in there..._

Claire's hands started shaking, followed by full body tremors, panic rising up her throat and wrapping it's claws around it, stifling her breath. Maybe it was a spy come to shoot her, or an escaped alien or-

 _Focus, Claire._

She stayed as still as a statue, listening, forcing the panic down.

For a few tense seconds, she heard nothing.

Then a tiny grunt from the ceiling at the end of the corridor.

Claire's first reaction was to sag in relief. Whatever it was in the vents claret hadn't noticedher. She was still safe.

The other was to furrow her eyebrows. If it wasn't a spy come to kill her, who (or what?) was it, and what were they doing?

Taking another deep breath that shuddered through her lungs, Claire made one of the boldest decisions of her life to date.

 _I don't have another other leads... Maybe I should follow it..._

Claire ran a shaking hand through her hair, taking another shuddering breath to steel her nerves.

For Zach. For Gray.

 **(JW JW JW JW JW)**

 **So, the** **twins know who each other are, and Claire has a possible lead to follow...**

 **Apologies for the short chapter, but it does set up the next one in which quite a lot will happen :)**

 **Let's hope it doesn't take me as long to write that one as this one!**

 **Reviews:**

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	10. Chapter10:ANot-SoUsualReunion

**I'm back! Thanks again for the amazing support and interest you guys have shown for this story, it's what inspires me to keep on writing!**

 **Again, sorry for the long wait, but I hope that you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the JW or GOTG franchises because I'm not quite that creative, and as much as I wish I was, I'm not making any profit from this work.**

 ** _Chapter 10: A Not-So Usual Reunion_**

 _If only Peter could see me now... He'd probably make some awful pun._

Gamora grunted as she pulled herself along the vent, cursing the fact that she was only just small enough to fit, legs dragging uselessly behind her. Sure, she'd been in far worse situations before, but her time with the Guardians had allowed her to get used to the freedom of not having to do such things. Crawling through small spaces was usually left to Rocket or Groot.

 _I hope he's having more success than I am..._

The green woman winced as she pulled herself further forward. She hoped that she'd find the two young Terran soon so that she could get out of the cursed vents and have freedom of movement again. Years of a life of a deadly assassin had made a small corner at the back of her mind scream in the discomfort of not using her legs, of leaving herself vulnerable to an attack from behind.

Fighting the urge to look over her shoulder, Gamora continued, the thought of whatever the Terran authorities might be doing to get information from the poor boys, as well as the thought of reuniting with her team's beloved spaceship urging her forward.

Just then, she heard an echo as she reached a corner.

Instantly stilling, Gamora strained her ears to make out what it was. Whilst she wouldn't ever wish the process of gaining enhanced hearing on anyone (except perhaps Thanos and his army), it certainly came with certain perks.

 _"... Boys, please remember that you can trust me. All I want is to get an idea of what the 'visitors' are after so, if necessary, we can take action to protect people. Surely you two understand that."_

Young Terran woman. Highly trained in interrogation. Attempting to present herself as trustworthy to get information, most likely from younger Terrans.

Gamora smirked to herself. _Looks like I've found them._

She began to follow the voices, purposefully moving slightly slower in order to mask the noise in case the Terran agent began to suspect something.

The source of the voices appeared to come from a square on the bottom of the vent just in front of her, made complete with slits along the length of it which she could use to see through.

Travelling with Quill had caused her to appreciate his simple brilliance, a trait that he insisted was shared by his species. It appeared, however, that Peter's idiocy was another trait shared by them. Why would agents be so blind as to give a way to listen in and watch 'secret' interrogations, when they obviously wanted to conceal them?

Not that she had time to think much about it, an advantage was an advantage, after all.

Gamora brought her head lower, squinting. The two Terran boys from the crash were indeed there, sitting together on one side of a plain table, facing the woman that she recognised from the vehicle earlier, her hands clasped together in front of her.

The larger Terran boy had his arms around the younger one, pulling him protectively to his chest.

Gamora felt a pang at seeing the closeness of the two boys, involuntarily thinking of Nebula and the their relationship for a brief moment, mourning the relationship that could have been.

 _Not now_.

Forcing herself back to the present, Gamora began working at the primitive seal that attached the vent window (?) to the rest of the vent. It appeared to be connected by a small metal screw in each corner, impossible to be undone by a human hand, but Gamora's enhanced strength gave her a distinct advantage.

Working as quietly as possible so as to still hear what was going on beneath her, Gamora carefully placed the screws in her pocket so as to prevent them from rolling down and alerting the beings below of her presence. (She also was never one to leave behind a potential weapon, you never knew when screws may come in handy later).

Silently, she removed the vent window, shifting it over the gap. The woman continued with the investigation, unaware of Gamora watching her from above.

"Can you, at the very least, give me a description of the ship? Did you see anything inside?"

The boys remained silent.

Gamora's eyes flicked around, taking in every smallest detail in the room, the people, the table, the absolute utilitarianism of the walls-

-Movement in the corner of her eye.

The door to the interrogation room opened a sliver, not enough for the occupants of the room to notice.

Gamora's eyes narrowed. A potential threat.

"Alright," her attention was dragged back to the main threat to the Terran boys, although she kept a small part of her mind concentrating on the door so as not to be taken by surprise, "we went easy on you because you're kids, but if you won't talk and there are a large number of lives at stake, we'll have to start using other methods."

"You're bluffing!" Sneered the older boy, pushing the curly-haired younger one behind him. _Common survival instincts,_ Gamora noted even as she tensed for action. _Looking angry to put off any potential attacker._ However, she could still hear the panicked undertones in his voice, sense his heart race quicken and see his eyes start darting around for an escape.

It was time to intervene.

Bracing for impact on the ground, Gamora grabbed the edge of the gap and pulled herself forward, tucking her legs in to fit through the hole in front of her and swinging, before releasing her grip on the vents and free falling, feeling the air briefly whip her hair about before landing on the table, planting herself firmly between the other woman and the boys.

She cocked her gun. "Where is my ship?"

(GOTG GOTG GOTG)

Owen was sure he was dead.

Or at the very least, unconscious.

There was no way that this was real.

Because the man standing in for of him, the near identical man, the one that just gasped out his name like his heart had just been torn out of his own chest-

-That man was _Peter_.

Owen let out a small noise from the back of his throat, unconsciously stumbling forward a couple of steps, noting somewhere in the back of the whirlwind of his mind that his twin had done the same.

They met in the middle, each throwing their arms around each other, leaning so heavily on each other that if either was to let go, they'd both fall down.

 _He's here he's here he's here there's no way this can be real-_

He wasn't sure how long they stayed. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, years-

- _Years and years and years without his twin, he was gone, his closest living relative was gone and he couldn't find him-_

-And he was here now, heart hammering, clutching onto Owen like a lifeline, like he might die if he let go, exactly the way that Owen was afraid if he loosened his grip on Peter he would slip between his fingers and disappear forever.

"I'm sorry." Peter gasped out. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too." Owen replied, forcing out all of the guilt, worry and fear in those two words and knew it would never be enough, but Peter was here now, _he was here now_ , after all of those years he was finally back and Owen felt like he finally had his feet on the ground again.

"Where were you?" Owen let out. Then again, with more strength. "Where _were_ you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

All of the stress, anger and fear of the moment built up, and in that one moment grouped together and rose up like a tsunami, rolling over him and erasing everything except that overwhelming need to _know_.

"Where?"

Peter pulled back slightly, looking ashamed. He said nothing.

" _Where?_ "

"In the stars." Owen pulled back, blinking. That had not been what he was expecting to hear.

Peter took a deep breath.

"During that night that Mom- during the night that I left, I was taken into a spaceship and forced into the ranks of the Ravagers, sort of like space pirates." The corners of his mouth twitched into a tiny smile, before falling again. "They took me in, taught me their ways and formed a life for me there. Gave me my own spaceship and everything."

Owen exhaled shakily, finally pulling back from his twin. "Right." Everything was moving too _fast_. A thought occurred to him. "D-did they ban you from coming back, then?"

Peter blinked, as if surprised Owen was taking it so well. And then his breath caught when he realised what Owen was asking.

"... No."

"No?"

Peter took another shaky breath. "I jus- by the time that I got the Milano, I couldn't face coming back. Everyone must've thought I was dead, and... Well, I thought it would be better for everyone, avoid causing pain-"

" _Pain?_ " Owen's voice had raised in volume. "Pain was the years we spent looking for you."

Peter flinched back, looking down guiltily.

" _Pain_ ," Owen continued, the shock forcing him onwards, making him feel like he'd just lost his footing and was catapulting down the side of a slope with no control, getting increasingly faster, "was sitting through Mom's funeral by myself, wondering if I would have to sit through yours, too. _Pain_ was watching the hope slowly drain from everyone as time went on and there was no sign of you, when all along _you could have come back!_ "

His voice had raised to a roar now, despite the one sane part of the back of his mind, the one part not spiralling, the part that had allowed him to think through the panic during Jurassic World and fight his way to survival, noted that it was probably not a good idea to be making large amounts of noise when sneaking around a military base.

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't talk to me about pain. Not when it was far more painful to not know where you were than any reunion could have been."

There was a pause.

Then Peter moved forward, hesitantly at first, and then, when receiving no other hostility from his twin, who was now staring at him blankly, increased his speed, closing the distance again and pulling him into another embrace.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured again between laboured breaths, "so sorry."

They stayed there for a few moments, crying, simply relishing being with their brother again.

"What," Owen began when he found his voice again, "are you doing in this base?" They could leave the rest of the emotional baggage for when they were no longer in life-threatening danger.

"Well... Peter began, a genuine grin creeping into his face, "it's a long story..."

"One that can wait until I find out why you're here, I'm sure."

Both twins spun towards the door to find a dark-skinned stranger with an eyepatch standing in the door frame, long trench coat trailing behind him.

"Nick Fury." He introduced, taking in Peter's gun that he had attached back to his holster, his own hand twitching towards the pistol attached to his hip. "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but frankly, it isn't."

 **(JW JW JW JW JW)**

 **And that's that! Gamora has found the boys (and possibly someone else who was sneaking around the base after following a noise in the vents!), and our favourite twins have had their emotional reunion. Will they be able to work together, though?**

 **I hope I did the reunion justice, as the whole story had been building up to that point. I actually put it off for a while because I didn't know how to approach it, and I re-wrote it several times before I came up with the final thing. Did I do it well enough?**

 **Thanks again for all of the amazing support you guys have shown this story. I likely would have stopped writing it if it wasn't for the interest that has been shown, so thanks for keeping the story alive!**

 **Onto the reviews!**

 ** _Guest_ : I'm glad you like it! Did you enjoy the new chapter?**

 ** _the mysterious Mr.E_ : Thanks for reading! I've been into quite a few new fandoms recently, particularly Doctor Who, Good Omens and Lucifer. I've heard good things about rwby, though. **

**_Jason Chandler_ : Thank you! I'll see if I'm able to work it into the story. I actually originally had Peter mention him in an early draft of the reunion scene, but it just didn't work. I'm glad you like the story!**

 ** _optimusprimefollower_ : Not quite, although it would be funny :) thanks for reading!**

 ** _Dobby and Padfoot_ : I'm glad you like it! I hope that you enjoyed the reunion scene!**

 ** _Matt_ : Sorry it took so long!**

 ** _Tantei-Otaku-kun_ : You're welcome!**

 ** _REBD_ : I don't think they'll be any mention of powers in this story, as it's just too much to fit into this one. Perhaps if I get inspiration, I'll write another one about it :)**

 ** _HetaCzechia_ : Thank you! Here's the new chapter!**

 ** _Wolf quarts_ : Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing!**

 ** _Guest_ : :)**

 ** _Mason Sykes_ : That's fine! Whilst constructive comments are helpful to improve my writing, great comments like yours are what inspire me to keep writing in the first place! I'm glad you like it!**

 ** _Starlord_ : Great username, by the way. I'm glad you like it! **


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